Rusty Wings
by covertCalligrapher
Summary: Two new experiments are thrown into the world of MAXIMUM RIDE. Lord knows what could happen.
1. Chapters 1 to 5 Kem,Max,Kem,Max,Kem

**Rusty Wings**

**1**

"Shiz!" I yelled as I fell through the trees. I could feel the trees ripping out feathers as I fell. I thunked _hard_ on the ground after a few more seconds of going through a natural _cheese grater_.

"Ugh," Lupe groaned as he pushed himself off the ground next to me. He sat up and spat blood onto the leaves and shook out his gold-colored wings, trying to align the feathers.

"You ok, Kem?" he whispered. I opened my eyes more to get a better look of him. He looked like crap; then again, I probably didn't look any better.

"Feel… like… crap…. Feathers… ripped out…. In… _pain_," I ground out. I sat up and tried to listen harder for the unnatural buzzing of those metal, wolf _things_.

"Suck it up," he told me. His hair (which happened to be the same color as his wings) was full of twigs, leaves, and other assorted types of crap.

"Come on, I think I hear civilization," I said standing. He stood up, cracked his neck, and opened his mouth to expose the canines of a wolf. He yawned.

We started walking in the direction of the squeals and the sounds of water splashing. After a few minutes, Lupe struck up a conversation.

"Shouldn't you look, oh, I don't know, _different_?" he asked. His wings were pulled in tight against his back as were mine.

"Red hair this time?" I asked, my mouth pulling into a half-smile.

He screwed up his face in a look of intense concentration then shook his head. "Naw, you look too naturey. I was thinking like looking a little bit more like me." We were twins and completely un-identical. His hair was gold and his eyes were green, while my hair was brown and my eyes were too.

"Twinsy," I said. I forced my hair to go gold and my eyes to look green. Then, in synchronization, we pulled very large hoodies over our wings to hide them.

After about an hour of walking maddeningly slow, we pushed our way through a clump of bushes and came face-to-face with a guy with strawberry hair and a vacant look in his eyes.

Eight more pairs of curious eyes and two dogs' were staring us down no doubt taking in the scratches on our faces. Lupe kept his mouth shut, tight.

"Hi," I said uncertainly as we approached the group of people warily. Oh, little tidbit of info for you. Lupe and I are experiments. We had avian DNA grafted into our stem cells when we were babies. Plus, along with that DNA, I got some chameleon and Lupe got a little wolf. The _scientists_ wanted to see what happened when they grafted two species' DNA into one being.

Now, back to the present situation.

**2**

We all turned as the bushes started to shake and two people roughly around my age stepped out of the forest next to Mom's house.

Iggy was facing the two people but obviously not looking at them. Everyone else was looking with curiosity at the two new arrivals.

"Hi," a girl with blond hair and green eyes said, stepping forward. Who _were_ these kids? They were tall, taller than me. The girl look roughly two inches taller than me and the boy looked about the same height as Iggy. The two looked exactly alike.

"Hello," Angel said in her sweet little-girl voice. I looked over at her to see if she could get anything on them.

"My name is Kem, and this is my brother, Lupe," she said gesturing to the boy at her left.

"What do they look like?" Iggy muttered to Fang. Fang leaned closer and started to describe them. Iggy nodded his head slightly as Fang rattled off details.

The girl directed her attention to Angel. "And who are you?" she asked warmly.

"Angel," Angel said, smiling. She was telling two _complete_ _strangers_ her _name_!?

I sent Angel a thought, hoping she would pick it up.

_They aren't a threat, Max_, Angel thought to me. _I think they're hybrids. I can't get a very clear read on the boy, but the girl is crystal clear_.

I got a jolt from that one. They were hybrids, too? But I thought all the Schools were shutting down all they're recombinant life forms. I quickly waved Fang over.

"What," he whispered, barely audible. I shot a quick glance over at the two kids by the forest. Everyone was staring at either them or Angel.

"Angel says they're hybrids," I whispered. I was starting to panic, what were we going to do? Would we have to fight them? The girl didn't look all that dangerous, but the boy had yet to move.

Fang's eyes widened a fraction of an inch and I knew he was blown away.

"My name's Nudge," I heard Nudge say. Fang and I exchanged glances and we both shook our heads. We would probably have to suck it up and see what happened.

"My name is Max. This is Iggy, Gazzy, Total, Dr. Martinez, Jeb, Akila, Magnolia, and this is… Fang," I sighed over Fang's name because they would probably realize who we were when they heard his due to his blog. They just looked at each other and the boy walked into the clearing more, his jaw looking like a vice was pushing it together. There was something faintly Eraserish about him. My delightful paranoia swept over me.

Just then the girl rotated her shoulders and a rust-colored feather drifted out from under her big hoodie. We all zeroed in on it like lasers. The girl just looked confused as to why we were all staring at her like she had just sprouted wings. You have no idea how appropriate that phrase was.

Angel stepped over to the feather and picked it up. She held it up to show to the girl. Kem (I think that was her name) pinched it between her fingers and apparently lost her cool. She didn't flip out, but her hair suddenly turned a dark brown and her eyes went brown, too. They _were_ mutants.

My paranoia went on red alert. Fang and I exchanged looks that said, _This is very,_ very _bad_. I nodded and we both sprang forward to grab them.

**3**

The little blonde haired girl bent over and picked something up off the ground next me. She looked up at me and held it up. I pinched it between my thumb and forefinger. It was one of my feathers. I lost it and an ice cube of dread slid into my stomach. I felt my hair and eyes turn back to their natural color.

I heard a _whooshing_ sound and turned to see the girl named Max and the boy named Fang leap up and pounce on me and Lupe. The girl landed on top of me and all hell broke loose. There was yelling, flapping noises, and more pouncing.

I kneed the girl in the stomach and I heard the air rush out of her. A little black girl was kicking and punching me and the little blonde boy was on top of the dark boy who was on top of Lupe. Oh, shiz.

I heard a gut-wrenching growl erupt and I kicked the little girl's legs out from under her so she fell over. I flipped over to Lupe's side and I pulled the blonde kid off of the guy who was appropriately named Fang.

Lupe growled again.

The yard seemed to freeze when he growled and bared his fangs. He had canines like a wolf and the rest were normal, human teeth. The two people who'd been thrown off of him stayed on the ground, obviously blown out of the water.

"Eraser," I heard the girl who was named Angel say very softly. I looked quizzically at her, completely ignoring my self-preservation instincts. What the heck was an Eraser?

Lupe was still there, his teeth bared and his fingers curled into claws. Since it seemed that the fight had momentarily ceased, I put my hand on his shoulder and he relaxed a small amount.

I looked over at the red-haired boy and say that he was obviously disoriented. Everyone's face, except for the dark boy with the hate-filled eyes and the red-haired boy, was a mask of complete astonishment and fear. Even one of the _dogs'_.

Suddenly the Indian boy-Fang-did a spinning kick and kicked the legs out from under Lupe and myself.

"Fang!" Max yelled. Or at least, I _think_ her name was Max. The boy didn't listen and proceeded to beat the crap out of Lupe. I jumped onto his back and grabbed his head. I pulled it to the side. I heard a faint cracking noise and the boy stuttered from me cracking his neck. He grabbed my hair and tried to pull me off. The others were rushing over and trying to pry me off him. They succeeded in pinning my arms and legs to ground, crushing my wings uncomfortably in the process. The boy was punching Lupe's lights out.

Lupe bit his arm and hung on while kneeing him in the stomach. The boy _oofed_ and punched Lupe in the ear.

"Lupe!" I was yelling repeatedly until a hand was clamped over my mouth. The oldest-looking girl wrenched Lupe off him and restrained the other kid. He kicked him in the head before Lupe could get up and knocked him out cold.

I was thrashing around and was being pressed down.

"She's not a threat! She won't hurt us!" the girl named Angel was yelling at everyone. _Finally_ someone with some sense in them.

"He's an Eraser!" the boy named Fang yelled. He was being restrained and looked like he was going to blow a gasket.

"All the Erasers are dead," I heard the girl restraining him murmur. He was breathing heavily and looked disgusted at Lupe. I was panting through my nose and I was trying not to cry. _Were we going to die_? I asked myself. Was Lupe dead? Oh, God, no….

"_He's_ obviously not dead," the dark boy snarled. The black girl was looking at Lupe, a look of complete amazement on her face.

"Come here Fang, you're bleeding." A dark-haired woman came over and led Fang into the house. Max bent over and pressed tow fingers against Lupe's neck. She stood up and walked over to where I was lying in the dirt.

"Where are you from?" she asked.

**4**

After Fang was led inside by Mom, I walked over to the boy lying knocked out on the ground and checked to see if he was still alive. I felt a pulse that beat in sync with the flock's.

Amazing.

I walked over to the mutant being pinned down by Iggy, the Gasman, and Nudge.

"Where are you from?" I asked, burning with curiosity. I put my hands on my hips and looked down at her. was it too much to believe she had wings like us…?

Gazzy took his hand off her mouth so she could speak.

"Is Lupe ok?" Was the first thing out of her mouth. She looked genuinely frightened. He was her brother, was that what she'd said?

"He's alive. Now tell us who you are and where you're from unless you want him to die," I said in a steely voice. I didn't want to be mean to her, but my flock came first.

She looked so relived that she relaxed and looked like she was going to faint from it.

"A place called the School. They did experiments on us and we escaped before they could retire us," she said carefully. The School…. I had a short flashback of antiseptic smells and white lab coats.

"Let her up, guys," I said to everyone pining me down. She jumped up and ran over to the boy.

"Lupe," she whispered. She put her ear against his chest and looked like she was going to pass out from relief again. She opened his eye and found him unconscious. Angel knelt down next to her.

"He'll be ok," she said all blue-eyes and blond hair. The girl was looking very pale and shaken.

"Thanks," she muttered. It was a one-in-a-million chance that we'd met up with this girl. She didn't look like she was about to attack us so I walked over to her.

"Come inside and bring… Lupe, was it?" I said softly, my hand on her shoulder. She nodded and picked him up, not looking like the weight bothered her much.

She walked inside with the rest of us trailing behind her. Fang turned his head and looked like he'd have gladly ripped the boy to shreds. Fang had a worse grudge against Erasers than all of us. But this boy didn't seem to be anything like the Erasers, or Flyboys, or any combination of Eraser and avian. It was like he was a mistake. A viable mistake.

Fang's eye was black and he had a bandage around the arm that was bitten. He had a few scratches on him and his stomach was probably bruised. He was sitting in a chair around the dining room table.

"Mom, we, uh, have a problem," I said gesturing to the boy in the new mutant's arms. Her gaze locked on the boy and she nodded.

"Lay him on the table," she said gesturing to the table Fang was seated at. Fang got up and stalked off, moving to go stand in front of the wall that had shadows thrown over it and dissolving into them. Fang was going to give me heck about letting him into the house.

The girl lay him down and hovered protectively around him.

"What's his name?" Mom asked the girl. The girl, Kem, looked like she'd rather be anywhere else if he wasn't hurt. I _sooo_ totally connected.

"Lupe," she said, looking him the face. Jeb and my mom were examining him and the girl looked like she was wound tenser than a bunji cord.

"Lupe. Can we take off his jacket to see if anything's broken?" Mom asked. She was going to get a surprise when she did that.

The girl looked like she was going to snap in two any second now. She gave a quick, stiff nod.

"They're not mean, Max," Angel said looking up at me. I looked down at her. Nudge was looking curiously at the boy, Iggy was over by Fang, talking to him, Total was by Akila and they were both on the chairs around the table. Angel and I were peering at the boy and girl.

Everyone gasped including me, except Fang, the girl, and Iggy, when they took off the windbreaker. I had expected something like wings from the girl, but….

"Will someone _please_ tell me what's going on?" Iggy asked, annoyed. He was standing over by the wall with his arms crossed over his chest in frustration. I couldn't see Fang but I could feel him looking daggers at me.

The girl-Kem-looked up when Iggy spoke. She threw a glance that would have melted his spine if he could see it.

"My brother has _wings_," she said icily. Iggy's face looked like it was going to come apart at the seems. He walked over to the table.

The girl stiffened and tensed as if ready to fight. I couldn't say I could blame her, considering we'd practically tried to tear them apart earlier.

"Small world," Iggy said.

The girl gave a bitter laugh. "It would seem that way," she said looking at all of us oddly. Did she know? Did Angel tell her? it was at times like this I wished the Voice would actually answer a question instead of all this fortune-cookie crap.

_Max, you truly didn't believe you seven were the last of the hybrids?_ The Voice said. It chooses a perfect time to show up; I could have used it _before_ we'd up and tackled these guys!

"Yeah, actually I _did_," I snidely replied out loud. Everyone looked at me like I'd just grown a third head.

"Actually did what, Max," Nudge asked, ripping her gaze away from the boy with wings on the table.

"Nothin'," I muttered. I turned away from the table and walked over to stand by Fang.

_Don't be so naïve, Maximum,_ the Voice answered in the annoying way it had that made me feel like I was three.

_I'm not being naïve, I'm being practical_.

**5**

"Small world," the boy with strawberry hair said. He had his hand hovering lightly over Lupe's leg. Small world…? Did they have wings, too? Then again, I new they were mutants; only a mutant could have held Lupe and me down.

I laughed harshly. "It would seem that way." I looked at all of them as if I could see what they were blended with. Now that I looked, they're clothes did seem to bulge in odd ways. I guess they did.

The doctor was looking at his head and the saline/acidic smell of rubbing alcohol was enough to make me wound tighter than an electrical cable.

"Yeah, Actually I _did_," the girl who'd restrained the dark boy earlier said a little louder than necessary. Everyone looked in synchronization when she'd spoken so suddenly like that.

"Actually did what, Max?" the little black girl asked. She looked concerned and a little used to hearing her speak so suddenly like that.

"Nothin'," she murmured and went to go stand next to the book shelf at he far end of the room. I directed my attention back to Lupe.

"He's actually just unconscious, not in any life-threatening danger. Well, he has a slightly cracked skull, some bruises, many scratches, and a cracked rib. I'd need an x-ray to be sure, but it's softer in some places," the dark-haired woman said. She started cleaning out the cuts he'd acquired after his extreme fall through the forest. I turned away in relief and saw the little blonde girl looking at me.

"You have wings too, right?" she asked me. She looked up at me with innocent eyes. I nodded slightly.

"He'll be fine in about a day," the doctor said, looking over at me with a face full of mixed emotions.

"Good. I mean thanks." They all looked at me like they thought I would have been planning on staying longer.

"How did you get here?" the little black girl-Nudge?-asked. I wasn't about to spill the past month to them.

But, they did help Lupe, even if one of them had put him in this situation.

"We were attacked. And we can't stay long because of tracking." I lifted up the cuff of my pants to show them the little tracking bracelet there. It beeped in sync with the little green light. I have no idea how they'd failed to realize that was there before. They all looked at me, appalled. I lifted up the bottom of Lupe's pants too.

"They won't come off, and they're water-proof…." I trailed off. All of a sudden the little blonde girl had brown eyes and hair.

"No way!" I yelled, way too excited. I was the only other mutant at the School who could change my appearance what-so-ever. I made my hair blonde and my eyes blue.

The little girl giggled, and went back into looking like a little angel.

By now everyone was staring at the both of us like we'd gone crazy.

"We can get those things off the both of you if you can tell us how you got here," the boy, Fang, asked, seeming to dissolve out of the shadows. His face was impassive, but his bearing was tense, coiled as if ready to fight at a moments notice.

I felt my face lighten with the hope of being to be able to stay in one place for more that 24 hours.

"Do it. I'll tell you anything, just do it!" I was practically yelling at the top of my lungs. It took all of my self-control not to run over there and grab him by the shirt and shake him till he took the stupid bracelet off.

Max stepped out of the shadow of the bookcase and stood by him looking like she could relate to how I was feeling. Maybe she could.

"So, just to clarify the situation, you people have… differences, too?" I asked, my bliss bursting like an over-loaded balloon.

"Yup!" Nudge said. She shrugged off her jacket and shook out her wings. They were a good camouflage color. They were the same shade as a deer's fur. Max and Fang just looked faintly annoyed with her.

"Oh, sorry, Max…. What do yours look like? I mean, yeah, what do they look like? Are they the same color as the feather that fell out of your jacket before, or are they different colors? Are they, like, big like Fang, Max, and Iggy's?" she asked, talking at the speed of light, which, I take it, is very fast.

"Yeah, um, I mean no, or-wait-yes?" I asked, confused. I didn't know if she was asking one big question or a bunch of little questions. Just to answer her so I wouldn't get a migraine, I pulled off my hoodie and untucked my wings, letting them fan out slightly.

Everyone's eyes took in my large thirteen-and-a-half-foot long wings. Well, almost everyone's. Iggy, I was pretty sure that was it, was looking annoyed, like he was about to blow his top off.

"Will someone _please_ clue me in as to what's going on!?" he yelled out. I looked over at him. Was he bli-… oh. He was blind.

"Oh, sorry Ig," the little blonde boy said. He leaned in closer to him and starting whispering to him.

"They're a rusty red color. Wait!" He looked like he'd just had the most brilliant idea in the entire world. Li'l' kids were so cute.

The little boy looked at me. "Can he touch your wings?" he asked, positively bouncing up and down with barely suppressed excitement.

I couldn't see what that had to do with anything, but okay. "Okay," I said. I stretched them out a little further until they were about halfway unfolded.

Iggy walked forward and put his hand on my wing. Just like always, whenever someone's touching me, I can feel their emotions. He felt… sad and happy at the same time, closed-in, and very lost.

It made me feel that way, too.

"A deserty-slash-rusty red color. Solid and flecked with some gold. Very nice wings." He looked at me with approval. Then he moved his hand to my arm. Um… freaked out didn't begin to cover it. I thought he was blind?

"Huh. I can't really tell. Well, I guess you're… pale," he finished lamely. Not that pale.

"Right back atcha, Whitie," I snapped. Then I turned orange. "How about now?"

"Orange."

"Now?"

He was starting to look a little freaked out. "Green?" he asked hesitantly.

"Right."

"Whoa!" Nudge burst out. She was practically vibrating.

"What?" I asked. Never seen a color-changing mutant before?

"You just turned a different color!" she exclaimed. Just then a slight groaning sound us all whirl around and me flash to Lupe's side.

"Lupe?" I whispered.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE!!!  
Super-sorry if it sucked. it's just something i've had stuck in my head for a while and thought i was going to go crazy. so please tell me if it sucked, or if it was good, or if was just Uh. Thanks!!**


	2. Chapters 6 to 9 Max,Kem,Max,Lupe

**6**

"Lupe?" she asked again, seeming to accidentally put her hand over his. I saw her face stiffen and wondered what it was about. Fang tensed even more beside me.

"Am I dead? My skull feels like I was just whacked with a piece o' metal," he mumbled. His eyes opened and he stiffened as shiver seemed to run down his body. Everyone except for Angel tensed and waited to see if he'd attack. In my life, that was actually a legit concern.

Kem rolled her eyes. "You're not dead, numskull. You just got the shiz beat out of you." Her tone was mocking but her face was happy. Then I remembered her saying they were siblings; but they didn't look all that alike.

"Where am I?" he asked so softly I don't even know if I heard it. His eyes looked around nervously and he saw us immediately. He was on his knees so fast I doubted there was even a span of time in which it occurred. Oh great, another super-boy.

_Not super-boy, Max. They're hybrids, just like you,_ the Voice said knowingly. Ugh! I was ready to claw at my ears to stop from listening to it.

"Lupe," Kem said softly. She put her hand on his shoulder. "They're not going to hurt us, just ask them and you'll know."

"We're not. We just thought you two were… spies," I said, walking up to them. He tensed even more and bared his teeth slightly. Not a very comforting gesture, but still, I doubt he'd pounce without provocation.

He cocked his head to the side as if mentally considering something.

"Fine. They're telling the truth, Kem," he said curtly. He slid off the table and crossed his arms.

"I could have told you that," Kem muttered, walking over to stand next to him. It just struck me how muscle-y Lupe looked. I think it's time we got some answers out of these two.

"Wait, _why're my wings not covered_?" Lupe asked, sounding surprised. Oh, this is going to be an eventful afternoon indeed.

"They're _enhanced_ too," Kem muttered to him. You bet we are. The whole wings thing kinda gives that away.

Lupe raised his eyebrow and managed to look impassive. "I should've guessed as much; only a mutant could have held us down," he said sarcastically. He shot an angry glance at Fang who completely ignored it.

"So, are you two going to tell us the story of how you go here, or do we have to wait while you take your sweet time!?" Total asked way too loudly. I need to knock some manners into him.

They didn't look at all surprised that the dog could talk.

"You… _told_ them?" Lupe asked Kem, looking like he was holding back on ripping her to shreds. She looked small and thinner next to him.

"We'll be right back… if that's okay?" Kem asked, dragging her brother outside and near the edge of the forest.

_Pay attention, Maximum. What they say could prove useful to you,_ the Voice said. I'd enough of its comments for a while so I just ignored it as best as someone with a voice in their head could ignore one.

**7**

"What do you mean? I didn't tell them anything yet," I said defensively. He was jumping to conclusions as is common for Mr. Lupine.

"They knew I had wings! They knew we had wings! That doesn't seem odd to you!?" he yelled. I was surprised sparks hadn't started shooting out of his eyes yet.

"Cool it, Lupe," I said holding up one hand. He didn't look remotely close to cooling it. Then again, telling a worked up Lupe to cool down is like telling someone's heart to stop beating. Unless I had a crash cart, but I don't have one handy right now.

"Don't tell me to cool it! They"-okay, from here on in, all cursing will be replaced by 'crap.' Got it? Continuing. "'crap' know about us! You didn't even have your wings _covered_! I mean, what the _hell_ do you thing you're doing!?" he yelled. I looked over at the window only to see everyone inside the house with their faces all but pressed against the glass. Oh, just _peachy_.

"Look, I know you saw that girl's wings, they were impossible to miss. They said that if we told them what happened with us then they'd take off these freaking ankle trackers," I said calmly. He was breathing hard and his hands were clenched into fists. _The only thing tenser than him right now…_ I couldn't think of anything tenser than him right now.

"And, you actually _believed_ them!?" he hissed. Or growled. With Lupe it was hard to tell sometimes. I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Yeah, dumb ass, I did." I hated being snide with Lupe, but I was when I needed to. Which was quite often, actually.

"I wasn't _awake_! You just-just-just _promised_ them something!? At least I would've been able to _tell_ you!" he yelled throwing his hands in the air. Lupe can tell if people are lying or not. It was skill he had not unlike my emotion sensing.

"Look Lupe, there are some things I just know, okay?" I said. his breathing had lessened some and I wondered distractedly if he had a possible ulcer from trying to deal with me.

"Fine. But if things get dicey, we make like trees and LEAVE." He sounded like he was restraining from shaking me by the shoulders and demanding that we leave. He should ease up after he hears them talk.

"Okay!" I said brightly and grabbed his hand, running inside.

"What the hell have I just gotten myself into?" he mumbled to himself as I dragged him over to the house.

**8**

That boy, Lupe, sure has a mouth on him. I mean, my God, if Angel hadn't told me what he was thinking I would have started to think he never cursed. And she said Kem hardly cursed at all.

They walked into the house and Lupe looked like he was being held against his will. Okay, I had my list of questions to ask and here goes:

1) Ask them what the _heck_ they were doing so close by to us

2) See why Lupe seemed so Eraser-y

3) Ask her why she was Chameleon Girl

4) Get the full story of their School

We were all scrunched up in the living room and Nudge was talking Kem's ear off. And the thing was, Kem actually seemed to _like_ it. She answered most of Nudge's questions enthusiastically and the ones that were less than excited were immediately made up for by the next round of questions.

Angel was with Nudge completely and stared with complete amazement at some of the answers that Kem had for Nudge. Gazzy was talking to Lupe and I was getting kinda nervous with them being so close together. Iggy was playing the Guess What Color I Am Now game with Kem in between questions. Fang was just a stiff statue standing at the far corner of the room.

Jeb and my mom were conferring with each other at the dining room table and I chatted with Ella. Total, I had no idea where he was, probably somewhere with Akila, and Magnolia was lying over Ella's feet.

"Sorry, Ella, but I have to get some strait-out answers from these two before I can relax properly." She only looked a little discouraged when I'd said that; guess she was curious, too.

"S'kay, Max," she said. Okay, down to business.

"This whole get to know you fest has been fun, but I think we should get some answers and some dinner," I said using my best leader-voice as possible.

"'Kay!" Angel agreed enthusiastically as did everyone else. After we'd all grabbed a burger (Yum! And Lupe and Kem took two, too. They were being modest; I took four.) Mom let us sprawl out in the living room due to lack of space.

"Okay," I started, munching on my burger. "I think I would like to get some of my questions answered before I explode."

"Okay." Kem gave one quick nod. "What do you want to know?"

_What the heck is going on with the world_. "What were you doing so close by? How did you find us?" I asked, trying not start vibrating with tension. Lupe looked tense. I was surprised he didn't snap and shatter into a thousand pieces.

"Well, you see these ankle trackers"-she pointed to her ankle-"told the School where we were and we were found, _again_, by them and we had to get away. Lupe got whapped on the back of head and I was kneed in the stomach and we were close to the trees. Too close and we fell through them faster than a chunk of concrete through a pond. I didn't have enough time to pull my wings in so a few got ripped out. That was one of the feathers that fell on the ground earlier." She said. She was almost done with her first burger.

"So then we fell to the ground and Lupe thought I should look a little different so we wouldn't be as easily identifiable. Well, walked through and after about an hour we reached your house…." She shrugged. "Not much to tell there." Not much!? She was changing colors earlier!

"You probably want to know we got away from the _doctors_ there," Lupe put in. I was wondering that exactly. How did they get away?

"We"-Lupe was speaking now-"were separated about two months before we escaped. They made Kem the way she was just for an experiment. I was made to be they're ultimate tracking and killing pet." He frowned. I was actually starting to feel sorry for them. "Well, I was outfitted to join the other human-lupine hybrids and they suited me up for the job. I was like their prized possession. I lived longer than the others and I could fly smoothly and naturally. Not like those lunky Frankenstiens they made. Plus, I was smart enough to know what to do in the right situation. They taught me how to read when I was eight.

"But they separated me from Kem to late." His mouth twisted into a lopsided smirk. "She corrupted me. _They_ corrupted me. I didn't want to be they're killing machine, I just wanted out of there," he said, not looking at anything. His eyes had a far-away look and his face held the kind of expression it has when experiencing something that disgusts you.

"Wait, you're an _Eraser_?" I asked incredulously. He seemed Eraserish, but not like a full-blown one. He'd been stuck in the human form with wolfish characteristics. The only visible attribute to the lupine DNA were the fangs he'd bared at us. Still, my ingrained sense of distrust made me wary of him.

"If you mean I'm like those _things_ they unleashed on the other mutants, then, no. I just had the unfortunate luck of being the fixation of they're twisted desires. It sucked. And so did the possible brainwashing," he added. I could feel the horror twisting my face. Wait, a thought just occurred to me, what if they're lying? Lupe turned to look at me at the same time as Angel's.

"We're not lying, believe me. Even Kem's not this creative," he said, grinning slightly. Kem smiled at her brother.

_They're telling the truth, Max,_ Angel thought to me. I nodded my head slightly to tell her I got her message. It was still the question of _how_ they escaped.

"So how did you escape? Did you two fly out of there while telling them you were done with them? Did one of the whitecoats let you go? Did you knock them all out and make a break for it?" Nudge asked eagerly. I was hardly surprised when Kem smiled at her.

"I only have half of it, Lupe has the other half." She looked at him to start.

**9**

"Lupe, why don't you start it?" Kem asked me. I didn't know why she was so trusting of these people. Especially after one of them had tackled me. I mean, he _attacked_ me. But I trust Kem's decisions, even if they don't really seem to though-out.

But I digress.

"After they'd tried to break me of my habits of being rebellious, they'd come up with the brilliant plan of trying to make me kill Kem." Every one of them, even the ass who'd tackled me earlier, looked like they thought that was horrible. I mean, trying to make you kill your own sister; Jesus.

"They thought it was foolproof; nothing could go wrong with it. But they were so immensely wrong, it's crazy to think anyone could be that thick," I said, frowning slightly at the memory of me and Kem in that field, Kem in the cage, me sprinting across the field, trying to get to her before the savages did.

"Well they were stupid, weren't they?" Gazzy piped up. I was starting to like that kid; he seemed pretty smart.

"Very. Anyway, I pried her cage open just as the other, what did you call them? Erasers? Just as the other Erasers caught up and started attacking us. After we were fairly beat-up, we managed to break away from their claws and flew away." I shrugged, looking impassive. My poker-face was about as good as The Silent Statue's over in the corner.

"So you were trained to be a Super-Eraser, but instead of giving in, you fought it and came out alive?" Max asked. She sounded like she'd hardly believed me.

"Yup." I popped the 'p.'

"And what about Kem's?" Iggy asked. He had his head facing in my direction but Kem'd already told me he was blind.

"'Kay," Kem said, all the perkiness in the world. I didn't understand how she could do that.

"After he was taken away, I'd demanded to see him so many times I just stopped counting. The only reason I'd learned how to read was because he'd told them to teach me along with him. They were like putty in his hands." She flashed a smile my way and I managed a half-hearted grin.

"Anyway, after he was taken away I'd started to go berserk on them. I don't mean screaming when they tried to stick me with a needle, I mean full fledged feaking-out, kicking, flapping, and beat-ups all around. They'd had to strap me down or knock me out in order to do anything. Anyway, I'd only seem Lupe in passing and needed to get some serious crunch time in with him. Then, one day I remember about five of them holding me down and two others trying to stick me with a needle." She pulled up the cuff of her shirt to show a thin angry-looking scar going across her wrist. We all looked at it like we couldn't believe what she was talking about.

"They missed a few times," she said grimly. "After they were done mutilating my wrist, and injected me with knock-out juice, they tossed me into a cage and the last thing I remember was hearing some insane laughter. After that, I woke up inside the field where Lupe and a bunch of other Erasers were. They, to put it lightly, were hyped up and practically vibrating with anticipation. It's sick," she finished lamely. I could see Max looking like she could sense something wasn't apparently going along with her plan. "Excuse me, but I need to go get something," Kem said, hopping up and looking around wildly.

**A/N!!!!!**

**So, tell me if it sucked or not!! i need to know!!**


	3. Chapters 10 to 13 Kem,Max,Lupe,Lupe

**10**

Now I remembered! They'd all reminded me of something and I finally remembered! I practically flew (not an exaggeration) out the door. When I was far enough away from the house I snapped out my wings and was airborne.

Great feeling, flying is. It makes you feel so… _weightless_. Just completely and totally away from it all.

But right now I was tense and worried; what if they'd stolen it? I would beat the living shiz out of them if they did.

I flew over to where Lupe and I'd gone down about three hours ago. I hovered above the spot then folded my wings in and dropped for a few seconds before I whooshed my wings out again. I landed lightly on one of the sturdy branches near the top.

There was a fairly large hole that had been created from Lupe and me nearly killing ourselves on the fall down. I spied farther down using my raptor vision to try to distinguish the green bag from the rest of the forest.

After a few minutes of anxious scanning I found it. I swooped down carefully and lithely, trying not to get anymore feathers ripped out.

I pulled it off the branch it was tangled in and climbed out of the hole. I flapped a few times and was flying in a matter of seconds. I was again reminded of the amazing sensation flying offered.

My wings flapping practically by themselves, I inspected the bag. The strap was broken and it was probably good it _had_ broken. If it hadn't I probably would've snapped my neck or something. Other than the broken strap there were a few minor rips in it, nothing a needle wouldn't fix. Well maybe Lupe would have to do that; I didn't have one feminine bone in my genetically-enhanced body. (Except for the instinct for everything to be clean. I'm just a little neat-freak.) He'd been taught some basic survival skills in the Eraser camp he was at.

Now it was time to check inside it.

My largish drawing book was A-okay. My three pencils were still the same shape and if anything the tips were broken on two of them. Eraser's and sharpener okay also.

Okay, I know you're probably thinking that I'm acting like a priss and probably shouldn't be worried about a little doodling book. (Even though I'd made Lupe by me one when we'd finally escaped.) Well, it's not a little doodling book. I was actually about to find out if it had any pictures of the other hybrids. I was so excited.

When I landed I saw that basically the entire house was outside in the little clearing in front of the house. Lupe was standing anxiously in the middle next to Fang Iggy and Max. Nudge and Angel were looking up at me and Gazzy was with Total the Talking Dog next to Nudge and Angel.

I swooped down and landed about ten feet away from them. I jogged over; my wings were fanned out behind me. They needed to cool off and I didn't have the forethought yet to pull them in. We were all mutants here, right?

"Why'd you just up and away like that?" Lupe demanded when I jumped in front of him. I showed him the green sack. "Oh, great. You just had to go back for your scribble book, huh?" he remarked with an edge. I just fanned him away and walked up to Max.

"Why did you just run away like that? Did you need to get something?" Max asked me. I held up my bag and she looked at it quizzically.

"Look," I said, flipping through the pages until I came up the one I was looking for. I could feel everyone crowding around me and making me feel claustrophobic.

"What?" Nudge asked the moment I showed them "what."

**11**

"Look!" Kem exclaimed, pointing frantically to the open book she was holding. I looked down and almost passed out from shock. And let me tell you, I don't do the whole fainting thing.

On the paper in front of me was… _me_. It was an exact drawing of me that looked better than any photo could. I just stared at it dumbly until Nudge drew in a breath.

_Oh, fantastic_, I thought to myself before Nudge started talking.

"Is that Max?" Nudge asked to no one in particular. Everyone seemed at a loss for words. Even Fang was standing there with his mouth open slightly, his form of complete and utter amazement.

"Yup," Kem said. She started rifling through the pages until she came to the one she wanted. She showed it to Nudge and I could pretty well imagine what was on the paper.

"Wow!" Nudge exclaimed, grabbing the book and holding in the light. Kem smiled slightly and Lupe looked a little pale in the light.

"It's you!" Kem said, laughing. Nudge started going through it. I looked over her shoulder and saw her pass pages filled with forests, people and then… the flock. It was literally the entire flock scrunched into one picture.

"Can I see that, Nudge?" I murmured. She handed it to me and I started looking for the flock's pictures.

I found one of Iggy at the same time that Iggy asked, "What's going on?" We all looked at him and seemed to remember he was blind.

"Kem has pictures of all of us," Gazzy said. Then he looked at Kem. "You do have one of all of us, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do." She took the book away from me and flipped till she found the one of the Gasman.

She showed it to him saying, "And now I can label them all."

"Oh, my God," Gazzy breathed. He started looking through it until Kem took it from him and handed it to Fang.

"Yours," she said and showed him his picture.

He grabbed it and just stared at it for a moment before asking, "Where did you get these?" He was staring at her with his classic one-faced look. Absolutely no emotion what-so-ever.

"I drew them," she replied mysteriously. Oh, fantastic, unless she can draw about ten pages worth of junk (Well they're actually better than actual pictures, but I'd never say that out-loud.) in about ten minutes, I think we're at a new point in this _extremely_ eventful day.

Everyone raised an eyebrow at this. Even Jeb and my mom.

"Um, I'm not really into the whole 'I can see the future!' type of thing, so I think you better explain. Again." Again. I've been using that word a lot lately.

"Wait, Max," Jeb said. I'd only heard him talk once throughout this entire ordeal.

"What, Jeb?" I asked icily, crossing my arms over my chest and my hips going out at an angle.

He seemed to wince at my bitterness, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he seemed to be trying to offer up an explanation. "Max, remember when we told you that the last six months were a dream?" Oh, don't tell me that was true, now! I really don't need this to contribute to me getting an ulcer and gray hairs.

I just nodded briskly to show I remembered.

"Well, we can use drugs to give you dreams you never had, and maybe that's what happened with Kem here." He gestured to Kem and she looked surprised then easily smoothed it over with a face that suggested Jeb was off his rocker.

"No. I remember having this dream the night before I was due to get mauled by a team of Erasers. It was about you eight and global warming and a hurricane and this big monkey-man with a greenish arm"- she started turning different colors to show what she meant. She shook her wings out and they turned black to imitate Fang and then my awesome butt-kicking wings then Angel's, Gazzy's and so on. "an' then there was a man who looked like he was a bunch of crates just stacked up on each other. I only drew you six because I didn't want to waste paper and I didn't want those grotesque images floating around on paper forever," she finished. She looked like she was getting pretty worked up and, with a final shake, her wings turned back to their seemingly normal rusty color.

We all just stared at her for a few seconds in complete surprise at the color-changing trick she pulled in about sixteen seconds. The really creepy thing is that that really did coincide with the whole Uber-Director fiasco.

Great, now we have psychic on our hands.

Finally, Total spoke up.

"Why didn't you draw me down?" he asked indignantly. Leave it to Total, in a delicate situation, to ask why he wasn't important enough to put on paper.

"You're there." Kem flipped to the page of the entire flock and pointed to the little puff ball hat is Total.

"Wow! I look great!" Total exclaimed, his tiny managing to get him about a foot off the ground. Kem didn't look the least bit surprised, but Lupe on the other hand looked ready to faint from surprise.

"How about we all go back inside," Mom suggested. We all quickly agreed and flooded back inside.

After Kem told us about how she had the dream that told her what we all looked like and Lupe was looking scandalized at not being told his sister's dream, Kem finally reminded us about the deal to take off those ankle trackers.

"You promised," she chided us gently. I just looked at Fang to see if he had ideas on how to carry out his promise.

"Nudge," he said, walking over to Kem and not looking at Lupe. Nudge got up and stood next to Fang.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you can manipulate the pulleys and locks on here?" Fang asked while pointing to the blinking bracelet.

"I guess so," Nudge said uncertainly. She kneeled down in front of Kem and put her fingers on the almost invisible line that shows where it links together.

A few seconds later there was a faint _snick_ as some pieces of metal sliding against other pieces of metal followed by a _click_.

The bracelet was off.

"Thanks," Kem said faintly and Lupe looked, well, neutral. It was like having a second Fang; stoic and still, not showing anything but having an ocean of emotion underneath.

God, I sound like I'm on Dr. Phil, or something.

Nudge moved onto Lupe and did the same. He mumbled a 'thanks' before picking them up and walking over to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Fang asked, walking up to him.

**12**

"I'm going to go and hide these so that those retarded wolf-robots don't come back and decide to attack us. _Again_," I said to the ass standing near me. He looked like he wasn't about to let me go alone, and not in the good way. He didn't trust me.

"How do we know you're not going to report back to your head, or something? How do we know you're not going to bolt and leave her here with us?" he asked. The way he asked with no feeling made me think he thought I wasn't capable of emotion.

"Because," I said through clenched teeth. I could see him mildly staring at my fangs. "she's my sister and I'm, not an insensitive ass." Like you seem to be. I didn't say the last part out loud, though. Kem'd been trying to get me to be more polite.

No.

"Are you implying something?" he asked smoothly. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was staring at me with a smooth expression.

"Maybe," I growled, actually growled. The entire room froze and Kem was at my side in a flash, her hand on my arm where there was skin showing. I saw her lips mash together and become a thin white line while her face hardened. Her eyes flashed as she gave me one of her piercing looks.

"Stop. Now," she warned in her high-pitched voice. It, oddly, made her seem even more menacing. I was holding the bracelets in my hand when they started blinking a little faster and the beeping got a little louder. I seemed to be the only one who noticed; no one was paying any attention to the blinking tracking devices in the wolf-boy's hands.

She felt my sudden spike of anxiety and she glanced down.

"Shiz," she muttered. I would agree with that and use some stronger words.

"What?" Max asked. She looked around as if she could see "what" written on the walls.

"Flyboys," Iggy said grimly.

13

"Flyboy?" Kem asked the moment everyone groaned "Crap!" at once.

"Flying, robotic Erasers," the little girl who was appropriately named Angel said.

"SH-" I started but Kem smacked me upside the head.

"No," she said sternly. It was like she was training a dog to obey a command.

And yes, I get the irony. Shut-up.

We all ran out to the field in front of the house and flew away from it. Everyone gasped when they saw my wingspan. The last time they measured it, it was about sixteen-and-a-half feet. They said that this was because my weight, while though light, was heavy due to muscle.

"Where to, captain?" I asked Kem. Max looked scandalized as did most everyone else.

She cocked her head to the side, straining to listen. "Hand them to me," she said, holding out her hands.

I handed them to her.

I wished I hadn't, then maybe she wouldn't have been such a _moron_.

There was my sister, doing a dive-bomb towards the lake below us. A _lake_. She was going to fast and was too close to the lake already for her to pull up and she was never taught how to swim

My _only_ sister; the only connection I had to this world. Was trying to kill her self. This day couldn't get any better, could it?

"KEM!" I shouted and dove after her.

"What are you _doing_!?" Max yelled after me. I didn't look up to see what was going on, I just stared at Kem who'd just hit the water with a loud _splash!_

"Getting her!" I yelled but it was lost to the wind. I smashed into the water a second later. It felt like getting slugged in the face with a block of ice.

I opened my eyes and saw Kem at the bottom. She didn't look passed out considering she was burying those accursed bracelets.

She looked up at me and I saw a look of relief come over her face. Or at least I _think_ I did; it was slightly murky in the water.

Bubbles flew away from her nose where she was blowing air out. She pushed off the bottom only to get caught about a foot off the sandy bottom. Her eyes grew wide and she tugged even harder, more bubbles flying away from her face.

I was still shooting down, though definitely not as fast. I started kicking and paddling, trying to get to her as fast as I could.

She screamed. Or at least, that's what it looked like. I was close enough to touch her now. I could see her chest heaving with the effort of not breathing. I pulled my switchblade out and started cutting at the seaweed tangled around her ankles. Damn seaweed….

When I'd sawed through enough for her to rip her foot out she grabbed my shoulders and shoved off. I was starting to heave for breath now, too. She started floating up; she, again, couldn't swim. No one ever taught her. Eraser Boot Camp taught me how to.

I started paddling toward her, trying to grab her so I could pull her up with me. She saw me and tried to imitate my strokes. She was doing pretty well, actually. Still though, I could swim faster.

I grabbed her hand and I opened my wings slightly, feeling like a fricking penguin. She followed suit and shook them slightly, allowing us to shoot up like a couple off arrows.

We burst through the surface, our teeth chattering from the fact it was almost December.

A busted robot smashed through the surface of the water relatively close to my head. About ten followed after it and was accompanied by a very, _very_ loud boom.

**A/N!!!!!!**

**i wonder who that was?**


	4. Chapters 14 to 16 Kem,Kem,Max

**14**

I was ready to explode from not breathing when we hit the surface. God, I feel stupid for doing that. But I was glad I did it; all the robots were now swerving towards the water.

Just then an explosive went off and about twelve were blown up, their truncated bodies falling towards the water.

A sharp pain in my tongue made me realize it was freezing. My teeth were chattering and I was shivering. Oh, hypothermia should put a new twist on things.

We paddled, or at least Lupe did and I tried to, to the shore.

"T-t-that w-was a d-d-dumbass-s th-thing t-t-to d-do," Lupe commented, his teeth liable to fly out of his skull from how hard they were chattering.

"B-b-b-but i-it-it w-w-work-k-ed," I said proudly. I looked up, as did Lupe, when everyone else was looking dumbfounded at the mass of robots stupidly smashed themselves into the water ten at a time, trying to follow the signal given off by the tracking bracelets.

Let's hear it for my snap-decisions!

"C-c-c-an they g-get an-ny s-stupider?" Lupe muttered, possibly trying to sound sarcastic, but it was marred by the constant clicking sounds.

I just smiled at him, but it was ruined by the- aww, forget it. "Since I-I-I-I don'-t-t-t w-want t-t-t-to d-di-di-die of-f-f hah-hah-hyp-p-po-th-thermi-a, I-I-I s-s-suges-s-st we g-g-get s-s-some w-w-here," I spit out, trying not to bite my tongue off. The mass of robots had ceased to fall and the others were now swooping down towards us.

"Did what I think just happened, just happen?" Iggy asked convolutedly. My migraine from the cold is going to get worse from that.

"If by about eighty robots jumping into a lake, then yeah," the Gasman said. They slapped high-fives. How do that without seeing?!

"Are you trying to kill yourselves!?" Max exploded at us (me) when she saw me shivering to death. Lupe's was gradually turning into shudders. Stupid macho-ness.

"N-n-no," I said, squaring my jaw. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to _not_ look like the shivering recombinant life form that I am.

"She's j-just a l-little upset about th-the f-f-fact th-that she sc-scared th-the LIVING 'crap' OUTTA ME!" Lupe shouted, enraged. Like I said, censoring button still functioning.

"I MEAN," Lupe continued, "I NOW HATE 'crap' SEAWEED! YOU TRIED TO 'crap' KILL YOURSELF!" he was shouting, his hands up in the air. Despite the fact I was slowly icing over, I still had enough energy to hit him for swearing. It was a nasty habit he'd picked up from Camp o' Fun.

"Will you quit 'crap' hitting me!?" he yelled and Max smacked him this time. Not that I felt offended for her doing my job for me, it's just the obvious hostility between Lupe and certain _mutants_ made me think some things.

"No swearing," Max and I said at the same time. Then Max turned to me and pulled off her hoodie. She handed it to me.

When I started to object, she said, "We need to get you _both_"- she shot a look at Fang-"into the house and get you warm. Hypothermia is not fun I believe." She walked around and looked at the lake for a second then turned around and walked over to us and told us to get our butts in the air.

I was starting to like her a little.

So when we were all flying high and soaring it out, Max started talking and asking questions not unlike-

"That was a pretty good idea. The lake, I mean," she said. It sounded like it was difficult for her to compliment someone; like her natural pride wouldn't let her. I was still starting to like her, though.

"Thanks," I mumbled. My teeth had ceased chattering from sheer will-power and my clothes felt like they were blocks of unmoving ice. Fun.

"'Kay guys, we're there," Max said a moment later. I started to land and when my feet touched the ground, they immediately bent under me, so I ended up doing a face-plant in the dirt. Embarrassing.

"Smooth," Lupe commented, pulling me up. Our love was based on a very sarcastic and spiteful base. It was quite fun at times.

Now was _not_ one of those times.

I was practically thrown into the house before I could get a piece in with Lupe and was commanded to take a hot shower. Lupe would take one in the other bathroom.

**15**

So that's how I ended up in this quaint little bathroom, trying not to use up all the hot water and yet, trying to get myself clean. It was a difficult task, I must say. The water supply was cut in half due to the using of the other shower so I had to cut down on my compulsive cleaning instincts. Which went against my nature that everything had to be up to par with me, so I was freaking out about _three_ things now.

1) Why were they letting me take a _shower_ in their house?!

2) Lupe was going to get hostile, and soon. Stupid mind-washing maneuver.

3) All the old things like, where are we going to sleep, tomorrow, just plain old _life_. Oh, and my stupid cheerful disposition. Genetic engineering at it's not-so finest.

So let me remind you, freaking out.

I shut the water off and climbed out, trying not slip (which was likely to happen from how tired I was). I grabbed the towel and dried myself off. Showers are _sooo_ much fun. Sigh.

I was about to dread walking out of here in a towel, when my foot nudged a pile of cloth. I picked it up, confused.

Oh, it was clothes. Go figure, niceness was being contagious again. It was a pair of jeans (they were slightly short on me) and a T-shirt with holes for the good o' wings. So I was dressed, warm, fed, and clean. It, well, it kinda sucked for me. I just wasn't used to it.

Anyway, I walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway that led to the room where the others were waiting. I took a deep breath. Shiz.

**16**

So she walked out of the hallway and into the room, looking like she was being strained. Her face was red and her wings were pressed in tight against her back.

She was actually pretty, in a non-dramatic sort of way. She seemed nice and cheery. Why, I couldn't even begin to fathom.

_Ask her and her brother to join the flock_, the Voice intoned inside my head. It was so unexpected that I nearly shot out of my seat and through the ceiling. What!? A new- sorry- _two_ new flock members!? I had trouble keeping track of Angel alone!

_Why!?_ I yelled inside my head while saying out loud, "You're brother's in the study, if you want to see him."

She nodded and started to turn around, but was stopped by a shocked look that came across her face. I had a feeling Angel was going to need to get a good, stern talking to later on.

"What?" she choked out. Her eyes looked like they were going to fall out of her head from how wide they were.

_I told her what the Voice just told you. Max, I think you should listen to it, I think they should join the flock, too,_ Angel thought to me earnestly.

_Angel._ I gave her a withering look. She smiled sweetly back. I was going to regret this, I know.

"I would like to ask you if you wanted to join the flock," I said levelly. I got out of my seat and walked over to her. She was about, well, she was taller.

She did the dinner plate impression again, except these would make dinner plates look like saucers.

"N-n-n-no, I-I-I-I could-d-dn't," she stuttered, looking freaked out. "I mean, we, Lupe and I, we'll attract trouble like magnets. We're not all that inconspicuous. I mean, people have discovered our wings from people looking to closely at Lupe." This, I could understand. Lupe looked like an un-morphed Eraser. He was male model worthy. "I mean, well, I-I-I-I-" I broke her off.

"You'll be safe with us." Plus, a _Voice in my head_ told me to. So my karma would come back and kill me if I didn't do this.

She didn't answer. Just as she opened her mouth, Lupe walked in.

"What's going on?" he asked.

**A/N!!!!!!**

**If Lupe seems imtimidating, them my brain-washing is working!!!! MWA HA HA HA HA AHA!!!**


	5. Chapters 17 to 18 Max,Kem,

**17**

"Kem?" he asked, his arms crossed over a broad chest. He raised one eyebrow raised, his expression cutting.

"Lupe-I-they-join-want-us-flock-urgh," she squeaked out, stumbling forward and grabbing his arm. Her face cooled down some as she regained her composer. She obviously was able to get a bit… _overly excited_ at some news.

"So, tell me what's going on, or so help me," I heard Iggy mutter. Drama queen.

"They want us to _join_ them," Kem peeped, sounding wild. She said it as if it was the worst thing in the world; as if we were going to kill her. Well if the situation called for it… nah, it wouldn't be necessary.

"What?" Lupe asked his eyes bugging out of their sockets. Iggy walked up to stand by them. I was suddenly struck by how freakishly _tall_ Lupe was. Iggy was over six feet tall and Lupe was taller by practically two inches. I mean, just, wow.

"We feel you'd be… better off if you came with us," Iggy said, his sightless eyes flicking around.

Lupe's eyes narrowed. "Is that supposed to be a threat, 'cause I ain't buying it, beanpole," Lupe asked. He shouldn't insult _my_ flock like that. (Even if the insults are true in the most obvious ways.)

"Lupe, don't be mean," Kem scolded her brother. She turned to Iggy, who seemed to blush a little from feeling her stare. "Don't mind him; he thinks a threat's going to come from every corner." He wasn't too far off the mark. Before all this, I'd slept with one eye open all the time.

"I don't live in a fantasy world," Lupe muttered, his eyes rolling.

"We need to think about this," Kem said, grabbing her brother by the arm and pulling him out the door, grabbing her bag on the way.

So that left me to the mercy of my flock, Jeb, Mom, and Total. Oh, so joyous.

Fang was all over me like ugly on an ape.

"What are you _thinking_!?" he shouted at me, his arms in the air. Everyone else was silent and staring. Thanks _so much_ for the confidence and support.

"The Voice told me to!" I yelled right back at him. If that doesn't sound crazy, I don't know what does.

"Max! do you _not_ understand what's wrong with that guy?" Fang asked incredulously. Yeah, I do actually. That's why I want him on our side.

"Fang, he's not bad like and Eraser; he's good. He won't hurt us, he cares to much about his sister to let anything bad happen to her and he can feel it when someone lies," Angel said convincingly to Fang. My jaw almost dropped open. He could _feel it_ when some _lied_? How does that work, and did that mean _he_ couldn't lie?

"Angel, look, he has _fangs_. His sister can change colors. Plus, I don't think we can handle anymore people to watch after," Fang pointed out. Angel got a stiff set in her jaw and looked determined.

Avoiding that landmine, I walked into another. "_We_ won't have to watch them. We're going to that fancy new boarding school _remember_?" I tried to make it sound funny, but Fang wasn't laughing. Stick in the mud.

"Don't remind me," he muttered. Me and him were the only people who'd voted _No_ to that idea. Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, Iggy, Mom, Jeb, and, you guessed it, Total! had voted that we go. A better education my butt.

"Well, our good consciences will have to put up with them." _If they want to go with us_, I thought silently to myself. Angel seemed to catch that.

_They'll come, trust me, Max_, she sent me. The sad was, I _did_ trust her. Sigh.

There was much yelling coming from the outside. We all ran over to the window to see what it was.

"NO!" Lupe shouted. Boy had a temper on him, that was for sure. Kem was looking at him coolly, looking like she was used to this and that she usually won.

"Why not, Lupe . 'Cause you got your ass kicked by him?" Kem said, chuckling and I thought back to how scared she'd been about him. _It was all an act_, I realized. She was acting so she'd be listed to. I admired that in a person.

Lupe's face flushed and he gritted his teeth. "Because I've learned not to trust people. Because I _know_ when we can't trust people," he said dryly. He leaned back and almost fell on the ground.

"And did you pick anything up? I didn't," Kem pointed out. She didn't what? Could she do the same thing as her brother? I thought back to the stiff expression she'd had when she'd touched him, skin-on-skin, when he was unconscious. Was that the cause of something? QuestionsquestionsQUESTIONS!

He gritted his teeth even more to the point where his gums turned white and his fangs were starting to gleam wetly. Oh, my God, scary….

"Fine. I listen to you _only_ because you can talk to people and not feel the need to fly out a window," he warned, but seemed subdued.

Kem smiled and kissed her brother on the cheek. He rolled his eyes and followed her into the house.

"We've reached a decision," Kem announced as she walked through the door. Her brother had to actually _duck his head_ to stop from hitting it on the door frame. Kem, who was still clutching the scratched-up bag, gestured to me.

"OK, we've decided to try this out. But, just tell me _why_ you want us to come with you." She was looking at me with wide eyes and her brother was looking defeated against the wall.

**18**

"Really? That's all?" Max asked, sounding surprised at my giving in. I wanted to try it out, see what would happen.

"Uh, yeah," I said. I was still holding my bag and I pulled out my book, flipping through it absently.

I stopped flipping after a moment; memories are for a different time.

"We don't really think it's good to be out their all on your own," Max said sounding really sincere.

"Hypocrite," Lupe muttered. Everyone zeroed in on him. Oh, jeez.

"Excuse me?" Max asked in amazement. Lupe pushed off the wall and came to stand by me. He had a smug look on his face. Oh, jeez.

"Hypocrite. Fraud. Charlatan. Pretender. _Liar_. Choose one. Stop with the candy-coating and cut to the chase." His face pulled up into a half-smile, his trade-mark expression. Right next to a sardonic one.

Max just looked like she'd been slapped. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," she said, her cheeks turning red.

"That was the truth. Now spit it out," Lupe said. He had to feel just _so_ superior, him and his stupid lie-detector. It could get annoying, living with him.

"A voice told me to," she muttered. Wow, crazy much?

I snorted while Lupe shook his head. "She's telling the truth," he said, sounding surprised.

"It's the truth. I swear!" she said, her eyes getting wider.

"It is," Fang clarified from behind her. I looked at him. _He_ didn't seem too insane.

"I-I believe you," I said, surprising myself. If Lupe said it was true, then it was true. No questions asked.

"Really?" she asked, looking at me curiously.

"Yeah."

She raised her eyebrows.

"I can tell. Or Lupe can tell," I said, blushing. Oddities abundant, never ceasing, never stopping.

"It said we should have you join the flock. Angel and Nudge do, too," Max said, sounding exasperated. That was sweet, in a weird voices-in-my-head-telling-me-to-do-stuff kinda way.

"So… I guess…. Is there a ceremony, or something?" I asked in all seriousness. They just stared at me as if I was insane. I wasn't the one saying a voice was telling me to do things….

Then they all busted out in laughter, even Fang did, which seemed very odd.

"What?" I asked, feeling out-of-the-loop.

They were still laughing. Grrr….

"Oh, please." Max was holding her side as if to stay together. The others were still giggling and were trying to get a grip on things.

"What?" I demanded again. I was getting frustrated and Lupe put his hand on my arm, as if trying to calm me, but he knew that didn't exactly _work_ with me.

Instead I was swept up in the pool of his emotions. _Again_. It was a little scary in there, if truth be told. He used to be so happy-go-lucky, then he became cold and closed-off. I missed my brother.

He was feeling angry (as is always common with him nowadays), suspicious, and was still trying to press down his red flags from the latest Truth Buzz. Truth Buzzes freaked me out some; it was like someone deliberately pouring ice down your back with your consent. It was a hair-raising feeling.

"Nothing," Max said, still chuckling. "Just two things you need to know: 1. don't betray the flock; and 2. you have to go to school." Oh, my God.

Lupe's emotions turned sour faster than milk left out in the sun.

**Holy Mother of God, this is so wierd. I didn't put this chapter in becuase of some things going on with my computer, but I thought I did, but then I was going over it and saw that it wasn't there. So... here it is.**


	6. A night with Lightning Eyes ,19, Max

**19**

Tossing and turning, and tossing, and turning, and some more tossing with some turning thrown in there. I flipped over and punched my pillow into a more comfortable shape. I angrily smashed myself back onto the bed.

Ugh! I can't take it! It's driving me crazy!

I, very crossly, sat upright on the edge of the bed. I rubbed my eyes and dropped my head into my hands. I sighed.

I knew why I couldn't sleep; the amount adrenaline from the two new flock members was enough to keep Fang talking for the rest of his life.

No, that is _not_ an exaggeration.

I pushed myself up from the bed and out the room, thinking about going for a little walk around the house at… _3:30 in the morning_!? Oh, jeez, I'm gonna be dead tomorrow.

I walking into the living room (coincidentally the same room that Lupe and Kem were lodged in) and saw a slight distortion in the shadows. I peered closer, using my raptor vision to see what it was that'd caught my eye.

A pair of electric-yellow eyes glistened wetly then blinked and were clear again. I immediately went into self-preservation mode; eyes don't come in that color.

The shadows rippled again as an arm was passed over the abnormal-eyes, then settled back down.

The eyes flicked in my direction and a small voice said, "Hi." Oh, it was Kem. Well I feel really stupid now.

"Hi," I replied back sheepishly. I walked over to her, but stopped short when I heard a tiny sniffle. With a jolt, I realized Kem was crying,

"Are you OK?" I asked warily. I'm not really so good with tears. Boo-boos, smashing of robots, harassment of government-funded organizations, but not tears.

"Yeah." She sniffed again, then she seemed to shimmer slightly then became her, er, normal color, I guess. Pale, almost see-through, skin and brown hair and eyes. She was a whole lot easier to see now. "Just some memories," she said, smiling weakly. I feel so stupid just standing here, across the room.

"Yeah," I said lamely. I walked over and sat down next to her, feeling a little gauche. She looked at me and I saw that her face was tear-streaked and that her eyes were red and puffy. Either she'd been crying for a while or was really tired.

Or maybe it's both.

"So whatcha' thinking about?" I asked after a pause. She looked mildly curious, but mostly intensely sad. Apparently a genetically-engineered sunny disposition doesn't mix well with depression.

"Skyler," she answered as it was the answer to then entire world. Was that a name?

"What?" I asked.

"Skyler. She was another bird-kid at the School," she said thickly. I was shoulder-to-shoulder with her and felt her shake as a fresh batch of silent tears racked through her body. I put my arm around her shoulders awkwardly and she leaned in slightly, seeming happy about the simple comfort. I was suddenly immensely glad she'd agreed to join the flock.

"And?" I prompted, immensely curious. _More_ bird kids? Wait, "was"? Did that mean she was dead?

"She disappeared from her crate one day about a month before Lupe and I escaped. We were planning to take her with us," she said, drawing in a shuddering breath. "She was only four and they took her. They could've killed her for all I know. I pressed and I didn't know if they were lying are not 'cause Lupe wasn't with me."

She furiously wiped some tears from her eyes.

"What did she look like?" I was being inexcusably nosey.

She thrust her book at me. It was open to the first page. "Look."

I did, and was shocked to see a fish-girl, not bird-girl. Again, the drawing was amazing; so very life-like, better than any black-and-white picture. The girl on the piece of paper was, to put it nicely, odd looking. I could only see part of her wing, her face, and I little bit past her neck, but she was indeed a little fishy. She wasn't scary-looking, just odd looking. The patches of scales covering her face gave an odd effect. She was, strangely, a cute little kid.

Her face had a few patches of scales scattered around her face and the part of her wing I could discern from the rest of the picture seemed to be covered in scales rather than feathers. She looked more like a bat-kid than anything. Or a fish… um.

I peered more closely at her neck and was surprised to see… gills. Not the untraceable holes in Angel's, Fang's, and my necks, but real gills. Like a fish's, down to the subtle slits in her neck.

"Are you sure she was a bird-kid?" I asked with oh-so-much tact. I mean, she was _crying_; you don't press a crying person for details.

She chuckled a watery chuckle. "Yeah. I'm sure. She had fish DNA along with the bird. We all had bird DNA. With Lupe, it was they wanted a flying Eraser that had enough forethought to not kill the prey, but to bring it back alive. He was the inspiration for the wings they sewed onto the previous Erasers in other Schools." So he was the motivation for making Ari into a Frakenbirdy. "I had chameleon in hopes that I would be able to go invisible and make other people, clothes, and things go invisible, too."

"But weren't you invisible before?" I asked. I remembered how the shadows seemed to ripple earlier….

"No, I was the same color as the shadows. Mysterious, huh?" she said, laughing slightly. I smiled a little too. She seemed nice, but very sad.

"Very. But the School didn't want you, did they?" I asked softly. It just seems so sad, her life.

"No." Her expression grew bitter. "They didn't want me. Lupe was the accurate experiment. He was the one they all wanted. They wanted me to be a map-maker, or Lupe's assistant. Neither came true, as you have probably guessed," she said with a certain kind of sadness. "But they did use my DNA to make some sort of color-changing super-suit." Those color-changing majiggers were made using her, huh? Who says genetic-engineering is over-rated!

"Why didn't they take you?" It didn't make sense, to go through all the trouble of keeping her and then not using her at all, no, deciding to _kill_ her. **(Sorry if Max seems a little too nosey, I couldn't think of any other way for the plot to come out here.)** Then again, the whitecoats are notorious nut jobs.

"I could feel someone's emotions when they touch me skin-on-skin. It's not really a practical thing when you're a hunter. Lupe's ability to tell when someone's lying proved useful for no one could pull the wool over _his_ eyes. Besides, some people don't feel anything when they kill or fight. I do. I feel _it all_. I'd punch someone who's a threat to me and I'd know what they were feeling and if they die while I'm touching them"-she shuddered. It must be horrible-"it feels like a little bit of me dies too," she said, her arms tightening around her legs which were pulled up to her chest. She rested her pointed chin on her knees and closed her eyes, rocking back-and-forth slightly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. When was the last time I'd said that? I couldn't even remember.

"It's okay. It's just sometimes it all gets to me. I loved Skye like a little sister, she was adorable and I loved her. Lupe did too." She broke down into silent tears again. Where was Lupe anyway?

"Where is Lupe, anyway?"

"He's on the couch. Be happy I almost smothered him with a pillow or else you'd think the forest was being cut down," she said, smiling. She seemed to be cheering up a bit.

"So, about Skyler, what was she made for?" I asked. I wanted to know so bad it felt like I was going to explode. Maybe I was, you never know.

"They wanted a person who could breathe under water, up high, and on land. She was a flying fish in the literal sense. She seemed to be a success; she could breath under water, in the high-pressure chamber, as could all of us, and on land. The reason they didn't want her was because she had scales and couldn't blend in a crowd of humans."

"What about Lupe? He has _fangs_," I asked incredulously. How do hide _fangs_ when you're talking to someone?

"They considered him a success 'cause he'd win in a fight. He didn't need to talk if some one was with him, and if he really wanted too, he could file them down until they weren't lethal points. They tried it with him once; he's like a shark, you pull one tooth out, another comes in within the week." Golly, freaks of nature unite!

"That's… scary," I said. I hoped I hadn't offended her; she seemed like she could be a good friend.

"Tell me about it," she muttered. My arm was still around her shoulders and I moved it, feeling like, well, I don't know what I felt like right then.

"Do you really think she's dead?" I asked her. I looked at her eyes as she turned to look at me again. Her eyes became the electric yellow color again and they seemed to be floating in the shadows as the rest of her person turned a smoky-black color. It was a very creepy effect. Her clothes were hardly noticeable in the dark and they just seemed like they were wrapped around nothing, but still holding shape. I guess this was her defensive color.

"Yes," she said, her eyes closing, a single tear sliding down her face, "and I hate myself for it."

"You shouldn't."

**HOPED YOU LIKED AND DON'T THINK I'M A WEIRDO WITH NO LIFE, 'CAUSE YOU would NOT be right, that i can assure you.**


	7. Chapters 20 to 23 Kem,Kem,Max,Kem

**20**

I don't know how long Max and I exchanged stories, but the sun came up after about three hours. Max seemed to be a smidge groggy (okay, that was an understatement. She seemed to need sleep like all normal and sane people.); but I was wide-awake and would probably need to be sedated later from lack of sleep trying to kill me.

"So, I nearly asphyxiated in my sleep. I woke up with a pillow practically shoved into my mouth and you and Max were chatting like _girls_." Was Lupe's greeting. Well rise-and-shine to you too.

"Glad you _didn't_ asphyxiate. It would really suck trying to resuscitate you," I replied. The tears on my face had dried into little tracks and I was too grossed out by the thought of rubbing them off with spit, so I had to get up to wash them off before Lupe saw that I'd been crying. He really didn't approve of emotions, but that concept was lost on me. As is most of his logic. Oh, well; I'm the brains and he's most of the brawn.

"What were _you_ doing creeping around at night?" Lupe asked Max rudely. She seemed so smashed she didn't register the rudeness.

"Couldn't sleep. Feel dead now, though." She couldn't even speak in full sentences. Poor thing, she definitely needed sleep.

"Okay everyone! We have to get to the airport now!" Dr. Martinez said, first thing in the morning. Everyone immerged from their rooms in vary states of apparent sleepiness and enthusiasm. I for one am thrilled to go to school. Call me a freak, but I get a joy out of learning new things. Lupe would rather have his canines sawed off. Actually, they'd been sawed off before.

"Do we have to?" Fang groaned as he schlepped into the living room. Iggy was following him and looked tired mixed with anticipation. Mostly tiredness, though.

"I second that statement," Max slurred groggily from the couch. She had her head resting on the top on the couch while the rest of her was sprawled out, looking like she wanted to die. Okay not literally, but she still looked like someone painted the undersides of her eyes with violet paint.

"Max! You look so tired! Were you up all night? Kem, you look tired too! And Max did you and Kem stay up all night!? Why didn't you invite me to come? I would have wa-" she was cut off by Gazzy who had a hand firmly wrapped around her mouth.

"Nudge, it's too early. Can we wait till it's at least eight?" he asked tiredly. Nudge's seemingly usually happy face fell.

"Yeah," I said, surprising myself by how pepped-up I sounded. Did I really sound like that? A little too happy to fit my life before very recently. I looked down at my ankle, surprised to see bare skin. I'd almost forgotten what me skin looked like underneath that tracking thing. Then again, there was no tan line to show I'd even had one on; I couldn't tan.

"C'mon guys, we have to get going!" Dr. Martinez urged again.

Ella practically flew into the room and obviously tried not to stare at Lupe's teeth, and she failed quite miserably at it.

"You're going to have to get those filed down, you know," I whispered to Lupe.

He took on a horrified expression and fingered the teeth much as a child would stick their tongue where a tooth should be. "B- they aren't _that_ bad, are they?" he asked, but it was muffled and sounded a little strange from the fingers he kept on his right canine.

"School." That sobered him and he nodded reluctantly.

"You're lucky I love you or else no one would put up with you," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Everyone, including Dr. Martinez and Jeb, stared at us right then. What?

"Get a room," Total muttered. Okay, pause: Lupe and I really are siblings, twins. Seriously, not in the adopted sense but real blood. We just didn't have the same hair or eye-color, so people usually didn't notice we were related at first. We had the same face and features, though. Except Lupe made them look good. _Yay_ for him.

"So no one doubts it from here on in, I would like to announce that we _are_ really siblings," I stressed. They looked like they didn't believe me. Grrr. "Look." I forced my hair the same shade as Lupe's and my eyes to be the same color as his. His eyes were a crazy green color, more radioactive-looking than toxic sludge. I also, for effect, made my skin tan to the same shade as his. He _could_ tan. All in all, it was a pretty cool effect.

They seemed to start as they seemed to finally realize the resemblance between me and Lupe. Sigh….

"I'm never gonna get over that," Total muttered. I rolled my eyes and let my natural color wash over me like water. Poetic of me.

"I'm sure none of us ever will," Max garbled, her face overwhelmingly tired. I'd probably talked her ear off more than Nudge does (Max told me about Nudge's obvious talking problem).

"Nngh," I grumbled.

"Car. Suitcases. Now," Dr. Martinez instructed from the doorway.

**21**

So we all loaded about twenty of every size suitcases into a _very_ large van. Max almost killed me from tripping over and almost decapitating me with the suitcase she was lugging. Don't ask me how she could behead someone with a suitcase, but she almost did. Fang made her get into the car and she protested for only a second before she stumbled _while standing_ and relented. I managed to shove my shredded bag in there, too.

"We'll get you two some uniforms and clothes when we get their, OK?" Dr. Martinez asked. She was such a nice lady, it made me envious of Max that she had such a nice mom. Then again, I didn't have a mom who'd wanted me and Lupe. We'd harassed one of the "doctors" into telling us. Lupe confirmed that we'd been sold to the School.

My emotion-sensing had confirmed that the "scientist" enjoyed my sadness over this and proceeded to relent to us why they'd given us up. Or at least until Lupe couldn't take it anymore and bit his finger off.

"Thanks," I muttered, my cheeks on fire. Lupe was looking dubiously at the wall of luggage in the van. He was getting more comfortable around these people and I was glad about that. He wasn't really a people-person.

"No problem," she said and hugged me. She seemed to do that a lot. I held back the tears that tried to force through my lids. Luckily, my tear ducts had been nearly emptied last night so it wasn't too hard.

She moved to hug Lupe and he looked like he'd rather had his teeth filed. I laughed at his expression.

"So, I vote we fly 'cause there's no way we'd fit in that car even if we'd wanted to," Fang said, his wings extending.

We all agreed, even Total who said, "I feel like my wings are ready to carry me into the skies and enjoy the feeling of the wing whistling through my fur, the independence flying myself offers." A dog could be long-winded, apparently.

"Fine by me," Iggy muttered. We all took running starts and jumped into the air. Max was being restrained in the car.

Akila followed Max into the car.

"So, you aren't tired?" Angel asked me. She was flying next to me, her beautiful white wings beating and missing my big rusty-red ones on the down-stroke.

"No." _You have no idea how many nights I lost to grief._

"What happened?" Angel asked me. Oh yeah, she could hear thoughts. Privacy was limited if not non-existent.

Angel flashed a brilliant smile at me. "Just some bad memories," I sighed, pictures of my little Skye flashing through my head.

Angel's small face crumpled in emotional pain as she shared in my ache before I slammed up my emotional barriers.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before speeding up.

We made it to the airport a little before everyone else; we were careful to keep it in sight the entire time. We landed and started unloading the van, then we loaded into a _private jet_. You heard me, _private jet_. I thought of my thoughts a little over a month ago about wondering what shade of blue the sky _really_ was, and now I was inside a _private airplane_.

Jeezum, I could feel my blood pressure rising. Small enclosed spaces. Shiz, I'm really screwed.

Lupe and I just stood there and stared at the open door as if were the entrance to 9th circle of hell. Maybe it was; I've never been there.

"Going inside?" Fang asked drily. He brushed past me, the back of his hand brushing the back of mine. His face seemed to always be the same poker-face, never deviating from that one look.

But you can't hide your real emotions even if you tried too. From _me_ at least. And _boy_ was this boy chocked full of suppressed feelings. Le's'ee, love (both kinds. Yowzeers!), anger (at Lupe?), suspicion (at me?), and… fear? Well… hmm… uh, le's'ee… fear for, the flock. Aww, that's really sweet.

"Give me some space," Lupe muttered and seemed to force himself onto the plane. I followed suit and, being more cluster phobic than anyone on the earth (ever), I immediately walked over to one of the cushy-looking reclining chairs and sank into one while my heart when a little haywire and my breathing got choppy and strained. Super.

I guess my fast pace breathing and thunking heart sent my brain into a little more than it could handle.

My eyelids fluttered a little and I passed out.

**22**

After I stumbled into the plane and Fang did a sweep of it, I chugged about four cups of coffee. Ahh, I don't feel like Night of the Living Dead now. Sooo much better.

"You OK?" Fang asked quietly, sitting down next to me on the couch.

"Yeah, just tired." A _huge_ yawn picked just then to show itself, as if to emphasis the statement.

"So I've noticed." He paused for a second, then started the conversation train back up again. "Do you trust those two?" he asked, nodding over to where Lupe and Kem were on the two reclining chairs next to each other.

Kem was passed out (I really couldn't blame her) and Lupe was starting to look really twitchy and jittery. His leg was bouncing up and down and his head kept tilting to the side as if his ear was bothering him.

I decided right then I trusted Lupe too. Kem, I was ready to trust last night. "Yeah. He seems really protective of her and she seems reliable." _Not to mention one tough cookie, but emotional, too_.

"What makes you trust them?" he asked softly. I looked at his black eyes and saw _absolutely freaking nothing_.

"I just know," I replied mysteriously.

He opened his mouth again, as if to continue, but Nudge asked a completely off-topic question.

"Do you think you could put a fire out with alcohol if you dumped enough of it on the fire at once?" Nudge asked.

I saw Gazzy and Iggy getting those looks again.

"No," I said as sternly as I possibly could. They just looked wide-eyed and innocent.

"We weren't gonna…," Gazzy muttered, slipping out of his seat and moving to the door that led to the cockpit, no doubt intending to harass the pants off the pilot. I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"Headache?" Fang asked. He wasn't thinking I was having a brain attack, was he?

"Just Gazzy and his pyromania," I muttered, my eyes closed.

Suddenly, just as there was the hiccupping sound of someone choking, a chair squeaked and Kem asked in a panic, "Where's the Gasman?"

**23**

It was like someone had played a movie, this dream was so real.

It was about us; the plane we were on. Everyone seemed so calm, carrying on with their various pastimes, when there was suddenly a choking noise and the cockpit door flew open and the pilots popped out and their arms morphed into _guns_. I mean, what the freak was _that_!?

I started awake just as the guns got shootin' and the choking noise was being played in the real world and not in my la la land.

"Where's the Gasman?" I asked looking wildly around. When I didn't see him, and no one responded, I flew over to the cockpit door and wrenched it off its hinges. Literally.

I saw the two pilots holding Gazzy by the throat and shaking him, trying to break his neck.

"Lupe!" I screamed while landing a round-house kick on one pilot's collar bone just like Lupe taught me.

A second before everyone burst in, (and Gazzy was beginning to turn blue and was looking really shaken up) the pilot tried to swipe at my head but I ducked and swept the feet out from under him with one movement and managed to swing my leg up and kick the pilot holding Gazzy right where the sun don't shine. _Hard_.

Everyone flinging themselves into the room didn't do well for the claustrophobic part of my sunny disposition and I started to get a big dose of adrenaline into my bloodstream. Whoopdie-freaking-do-da.

Lupe smashed one's skull in with a sickening _crunch_ while the other one was doubled over on the ground moaning in pain. That's precisely why females are the dominant gender.

Gazzy was coughing on the floor and I grabbed him and yanked him outta the way before the second pilot's body landed where he'd just been. There were tears in his eyes and he was clutching his throat and was coughing violently.

The first pilot was dispatched of in much the same manner as the second. I pressed the Gasman's face into my shoulder in pure instinct as I turned and looked away from the sight of my brother bashing someone's skull in. The rest of the flock was staring open-mouthed in shock and horror as Lupe killed with no expression and while I was on the floor with the Gasman in my arms.

Lupe was staring down with no expression at the two bodies on the floor. Gazzy was feeling hurt (physically), scared, a little comforted, and a lotta relived that someone found him.

I felt the plane starting to go a little wonky and Fang strode in and pressed the auto-pilot button. The plan smoothed out again.

I realized I was still clutching Gazzy and stood and set him on the floor. There were some deep purple bruises forming around his throat and there were some claw marks from where their nails had sunk into him. Well, he looked like crap, but he was alive.

There were tears on his cheeks and tears in his eyes. His face was pale and he was still coughing, though not as violently as before. After his fits had subsided mostly, the entire flock ate him in a bone-crunching hug. Lupe and I hovered around the edges, not making any movements, not wanting to invade on their family time.

Angel reached out and grabbed me and Lupe by the belt loops and pulled us into the mass of feathers and people. I wrapped my arms awkwardly around Gazzy and Max almost took my head off my shoulders for the second time that day from hugging my neck so hard. Lupe was hugged against his will by Angel, Nudge, Max, and Gazzy.

It felt good, feeling like you were wanted not just for the purposes you were created for.

"Thank you so much!" Nudge and Angel were blubbering. Max wasn't crying but still, she looked so relieved that they weren't all sleeping with the fishes that she even hugged Lupe. He had a sour look on his face that softened till I saw some of the brother I'd known my entire caged-up life.

They broke apart, but still had the Gasman in a death-clutch, and moved into the main part of the plane. Dr. Martinez was inspecting Gazzy's throat and checking to see if there was any internal damage, while I was looking out one of the windows with my legs pulled up to my chest.

"Hey," Max said, coming to sit by me.


	8. Chapters 24 to 25 Max,Kem

**24**

"Hey," I said to Kem who was staring out the window looking like she was in la la land.

She started like she wasn't completely their.

"Oh. Hi." She gave me a fake smile. I don't think I'd ever seen her smile a sunny-smile, but this one was like some who looks like they think they're going crazy would smile to make everyone else feel better.

She reminded me of… me, if I don't sound too full of myself.

"So, um, what was that?" I asked, shifting my weight so I was looking cool, calm, and collected.

"What?" she asked, blinking, going for genuinely confused. But, HA! I was cracker-jack at dissecting faces; you can thank The Silent Pillar for that.

But, um… hmm, how to ask this nicely…? "What the hell was that back there? It was like you knew what was going to happen." Smooth, Max, just smooth….

She winced. "You caught that?" I nodded. "I don't know. I had a weird dream and then I woke up and it was coming true. Do you think the Gasman would be dead"- her voice cracked then she was fine- "if I hadn't known?" She was looking like she hoped that the answer was no.

It hit me then; she didn't look for gratification. She'd do what was good, but she wasn't looking for praise for it. She was a _good_ person. Unlike me at some times.

Whoa, talk about a self-revelation.

I thought for a second. "Yeah. It sorta kills me to say that we probably wouldn't have noticed enough to realize where the noises were coming from until after he'd been choked. Thanks. For Gazzy. The kid can be annoying at the best of times, but life without him isn't an option." I tried smiling at her, but I was starting to feel like I was taking on another Angel. Just dandy….

"You're welcome. He's a sweet kid. Really cares about all of you," she said quietly, looking over at where the Gasman was complaining about having to be checked for damage.

"So, uh, what woulda happened? It you hadn't gotten the Gasman?" I asked awkwardly, trying not to pry. But she was the only person in the world I'd ever met who'd experienced anything close to as strange as the Voice.

She paled to an even paler color, if that was even bird-humanly _possible_. "You don't really want to know," she said very precisely. She was doing a very good deer-caught-in-headlights impression, and I could only wonder at what would have been so gruesome to make her look like that.

"Uh, was it… violent?" I couldn't help asking.

She probably thought I could take it. "Did you know that some machine guns are strong enough that when a bullet hits someone, they, sorta, uh, explode? Like where they get hit it kinda pops," she said. She was looking faintly green, and for those of you wondering if I knew this, the answer is no, I didn't. It's really gross.

"Eew," I said, pulling my shoulders around my neck in a cringing gesture.

"Yeah, really eew," she said, smiling a sunny-smile. Her smile wasn't as nice as Fang's, though.

She shifted her weight, accidentally nudged me with her arm (skin-to-skin style), and started giggling like an idiot.

"What?" I asked, exasperated. She was grinning stupidly and was shaking with silent giggles.

"It's nothing," she managed before lapsing back into the obscene giggling.

**25**

I breathed deeply after almost shoving Lupe off the ramp.

"What the hell!?" he'd exclaimed, but I didn't care; I was to busy worshiping wide-open spaces.

"Uh, people are staring," Nudge said. They weren't staring at the wings (windbreakers; thank the lord), but they were staring at _me_ as I danced around, trying to resist the temptation of flying away. I mean, _really_ claustrophobic.

"It's just her insanity and the claustrophobia creeping up on her again," Lupe commented to everyone. I don't really care at the moment.

"She's worse than us," Max stated. Oh, yeah, well SCREW YOU!!! I'M OUTSIDE AN' _NOT_ IN A TIN CAN!!!!

I whooped loudly, earning some stares from the occasional passer-by. I did a victory dance, earning a few wolf-whistles from a group of passing guys. I shot them the bird (still doing my victory-dance), earning a crack-up from the flock.

"'Kay, Kem! We understand you're crazy, now get back over here or else I'm going to drag you back here and stuff you into the van!" Lupe shouted over to me. I shot him my other bird and continued to thank the open-space gods.

Lupe always makes good on his promises 'cause if he doesn't it basically tears him apart. So I was dragged over to a luggage-toting mini-van and stuffed in with walls of bags on both my sides.

I was starting to sweat and my heart and breathing were doing the thumping thing again so I shouted out, "Get me OUT of here! _LUPE_!!!!" I was screeching like a banshee.

Lupe's arm pulled me out and I was being restrained from tearing anything apart. Lupe had me pressed against his chest, trying to distinguish my ragged breathing from the planes' engines.

"Kem!" Lupe shouted, but he was too late; I was already unconscious.


	9. Chapters 26 to 27 Kem,Lupe

**(I know I haven't had a Lupe POV chapter in a while, so here's one. They're oddly fun to write.)**

**26**

"Shit!" I shouted as I felt her go limp, her breathing and heartbeat stopping all together.

"What happened?" Max exclaimed as I laid Kem down on the asphalt. **(Oh, yeah, peoples, if I type "fug" instead of f***, it means f***. Just until I tell you otherwise. Unless we're in Kem's POV she just does the 'crap' majigger. 'Kay? Continuing….)** I put my ear to her chest, checking to see if I was going crazy.

I wasn't.

"She's not breathing," Iggy said anxiously.

"No shit Sherlock!" I shouted, doing CPR on my sister. Angel was looking confused; Nudge was looking scared; Gazzy was trying to get a grip on himself. He'd been saved by Kem about five hours before; Iggy was pumping her heart while Max was helping her mother find her doctor-junk; Fang was distracting the medical team who'd shown up and were trying to break through and get my sister. We couldn't use their help; the wings marred the whole thing.

People think having adventures is fun; that the _unexpected_ is _fun_. Well let me tell you, no, it's not. It really, really sucks.

"What's going on!? Is she going to die!?" Total asked, jumping up and down.

"I don't fugging know what's going on! If I knew, I'd be doing something! If she's not dead already, then she'll be pretty soon!" I died a little inside thinking of my last comment. "If" Kem was still alive? Life without her wasn't really livable; she was my other half, my twin, and I didn't want to mourn her. It just didn't seem right.

"GOT IT!" Max yelled running over to Kem.

Max was holding…

… a cup of water.

Are you fugging kidding me?

"Are you fugging kidding me?" I asked her, still performing CPR. Iggy was still pumping her heart.

"Nope." She dumped the cup of water on Kem's face and Kem blinked groggily. I sighed tiredly/relieved when her breathing picked up at normal again and Iggy took his hands away, his face blushing furiously.

"Uh, guys?" Kem asked, sitting up.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Why am I wet?"

Everyone bust out laughing except for me and Fang.

"You almost died- no, you _did_ die, and you're wondering why you're wet?" I asked blankly, deadpan.

"Uh, yeah." She ran her fingers through her hair a few times and blinked. "I died?"

"Yes and no," Angel said slowly. We all looked at her.

"What, sweetie?" Max asked sounding strained. Angel was a little mind-reading, fish-talking, mind-controlling, water-breathing, color-changing six-year-old. It's gettin' their.

"She was still thinking, but she wasn't really alive. It was scary," Angel said, clutching her grubby bear even tighter. Her eyes were wide, blue, and innocent.

Everyone was staring at Kem and me like we were even more freakish than they were. Well, all things considered, it was a pretty close call. I had canines like a dog and Kem could change colors. Not exactly normal.

"That's actually pretty creepy," Kem said. So was a kid with wings and could blend in with anything so seamlessly that you would never notice her if not for the restriction of her clothes, but I ain't talking.

"Come on guys, we have to go," Dr. Martinez said briskly.

"'Kay," Kem said, jumping up. She walked away, but not before giving me a meaningful look that said, _I need to talk to you_.

**27**

Dr. Martinez was a really kind and not-pry-y person. I could tell she wanted to examine me without me having to touch her. My emotions skill has its days and sometimes it's stronger and other times it takes some concentration to get flowing.

Today, after my little fainting bit, everything was crystal-clear. I didn't even have to be relatively close to people for it to work; it was scaring me.

We were flying over the van (Jeb had made sure that the plane he'd gotten had a place to keep a car. So cool.) when my heart started to thump again. _Oh, crap. Not again,_ I thought. I slapped myself in the face a few time, causing everyone to look at me oddly. I just shook my head.

Oh, yeah! Max was flying, too!

She'd proclaimed that she was fit to fly after having had enough coffee to make the Atlantic Ocean look like a kiddie-pool. She was pretty fun to be with, actually.

My heart stopped thumping after about the fifth smack, which, in my opinion, could be heard from a mile away. Everyone was staring at me like I was crazy.

"Uh, Kem?" Lupe asked, coming to glide by me. I realized with a pang, that everyone else was a whole lot more… _graceful_ than me and Lupe. They were flying smoothly and were doing the occasional trick. Lupe and I were lucky we could fly at all, all things considered. We'd only flown twice before we'd escaped the School. One word, wind-tunnels. They'd stuck us in there to see if we were fit to fly and, apparently, we were. Our bones are hollow and I barely weigh eighty pounds. Lupe weighs along the context of one-ten to one-fifteen. A lot of its muscle, not to mention he's so freakin' _tall_. Taller than 6'5. Yeah, I'm about 5'9-and-one-half. Half an inch. Go-figure.

"Yeah," I answered, swerving to avoid being clocked by his sixteen-foot wingspan.

"Sorry. Um, I don't really know how to say this, but, maybe, you're, uh… expiring." He seemed to wince as he said this.

Oh, holy-freaking-shiz. I hadn't thought of that. Lupe and I'd seen many experiments expire and start to fall apart, but I'd never really thought that much about how I'd die until about two months ago.

"Oh, wow. Well, uh, CRAP. CHECK IT NOW. PLEASE," I said loudly, my face feeling cold.

He pushed himself above me and beat his wings in unison with mine. His were still the size plane wings, but they managed not knock me unconscious, so we were making progress on that front.

He flew so low to me, I feared he'd fall on top of me. He impatiently flipped my hair out of the way and flipped my collar inside out, exposing more of my neck. He sighed and I knew I wasn't about to be aborted anytime soon.

"So I'm not gonna die anytime soon," I stated. Everyone seemed to fly closer now.

"I'm glad about that. Since you saved Gazzy and all, I think you're really nice. It would be really bad if you were gonna die soon. Hey, Max! 'Member that time you threatened to kill us if we didn't get a move on? I knew you were bluffing, but I flew into the air anyway. Hey whatta 'bout that one ti-" Nudge was cut off mid-off-topic-rant by Iggy and Gazzy at the same time.

Gazzy folded his wings in and landed on top of Nudge at the same time that Iggy clamped a hand around Nudge's mouth fro under her. Gazzy made Nudge go down, who in turn, made Iggy go down under her.

I raised my eyebrows while Gazzy was cracking up in mid-air.

"Gazzy!" Max yelled, sounding thoroughly incensed.

And that was the eventfulness of the day. Gazzy grinding on everyone's frayed nerves, Lupe trying to talk me out of talking him into getting his teeth filed down (but who in the world would do that? maybe we could ask Dr. Martinez to when we got there…. But I wouldn't want to compel her to.), Nudge trying to sqeeze every drop of my sanity from me (she was really sweet, though), and Iggy was silent along with Fang. Iggy was embarrassed, Max was worried, Lupe was worried too, I was excited and worried, and everyone else was excited fit to burst.

At the end of out little flying excursion came the part Max was dreading.

We were going to boarding school.


	10. Chapters 28 to 30 Max,Max,Max

**28**

Inside the Headmaster's (whose name was Carmela Hart) office we were being examined by a stern-looking woman with kind eyes. She was a friend of my mom's mom. She had iron-grey hair flecked with black dots here and there.

"So, Valencia, nice to meet you again." They shook hands then laughed and hugged. "This is your daughter? Maximum? And this is her… family?" she said, inspecting all the ranges in skin-tones and hair/eye-colors. Kem was looking like a carbon copy of Lupe again, and no one could talk her out of it. Will of iron, that's what she had.

"Yeah," I said, internally cringing about the fact that we'd gained two extra packages. But, if we hadn't gained those two, then we'd be one short. So I was pretty dang happy about them two.

"The Miracle bird Children," Ms. Hart practically sang.

Yup, that's us. …I guess.

"Uh, yeah. We kinda have two more, though," I said, somewhat sheepishly. We were going here, _for free_, and we'd brought two more people along for the ride.

"It's alright. They can board with you in your rooms. Let's see… yes, he can board with the boys and her, the girls. Good, we have an even number still. Total can, uh, talk, so he'll stay with the girls in their room." Great. "Um, I'll need your name's, you two." She rifled around in her desk, and pointed to Lupe and Kem after she'd pulled out a red book, bursting with papers.

"My name's Kimberly and this is my brother. Lucas," Kem said sweetly, smiling and gesturing to her and Lupe in turn. Wow, easy to remember, much?

"How nice. So I'll just give you guys your room assignments and you'll be on your way…." She handed us all papers and we all grabbed a bunch of bags and headed to our destinations while Mom talked it up with Ms. Hart.

"I noticed Lupe didn't talk," I said casually to Kem as we walked down the hallway and out the building.

She glanced down at her map, glanced around only to see a swarm of people in normal clothes (it was the weekend, so normal clothes are allowed today) walked around us, sighed, then tapped her teeth.

Oh, yeah. The whole fangs thing.

"Oh, yeah. I think my mom might be able to take care of that. File them down. But will they stay like that?" I said. We were walking to out rooms and Nudge and Angel were gazing around in wonder at all the buildings. Campus was obscenely huge.

"Thanks. Yeah, unless he yanks them out, which he won't, they'll stay like that for about four months until they fall out and are replaced," she said. "Hey, is that room 145 or 148? I can't tell; the print's too inked-up," she asked, pointing to her paper.

"Uh, I think it says 145, but I'm not entirely sure." I wasn't.

We made it there and Kem helped all of us shove the stuff through the door and into drawers, shelves, and into more drawers.

We all collapsed onto the beds that were given to us. Nudge was on the top-bunk of Kem's bed and Angel was on the top bunk of mine.

"Well, guys, we're here again," I stated, quite obviously.

Kem gave me a look that said, _Again?_

"Yeah, I guess so. But I hope this time'll be better. Last time didn't end too well, what with the whole Erasers at school thing-a-majig," Nudge said, sighing.

"Okay, I'm lost," Kem said, seeming to force herself to sit up. Her sleepless night was apparently starting to wear on her.

"Long story, short. We'd tried school and we blew the school up. Twice," I said, still flopped-out on the sheets.

She chuckled a little at that and asked, "Lemme guess, the Gasman and Iggy did it?" She was right on the money with that one. I sat up.

"How'd you know?" Angel asked. Nudge was peeping over the frame on her bed at the top of Kem's brown-haired head.

She gave a sly look at Angel and switched her eyes to me for a split second. "I had an epiphany."

Talk about an Iggy/Gazzy complex; she'd had a heart-attack and was cracking jokes.

"The kind of epiphany that cause heart-failure, I'm sure," I muttered, rolling my eyes. Her mouth quirked to one side in an expression I'd seen on Fang so many times.

She suddenly smiled at me, and I was wondering what she was going to do. Sigh; I brought this on myself.

**29**

So the guys came over after an hour and Iggy spared us all my cooking (or finding out if Kem had a knack for it) and made us all scrambled eggs for dinner. The fridges in both rooms are stocked full of milk, eggs, butter, and bottled water; the cabinet above the fridge has about three different types of cereal in it. Bowls and junk like that are in the shelf above the cereal. There were also various types of canned foods in the other various shelves around the room, but we hadn't fully explored that frontier yet. We had an electric hotplate in both rooms, and a small sink and dishwasher. I took this as a sign that we must eat like civilized people in front of all the impressionable other students here.

"Oh, my, _God_," Kem was saying around a bunch of egg, "I haven't tasted eggs in, like, years."

"Ditto," Lupe said from behind the end of Kem's bed.

"Really?" Gazzy asked. He was a wearing a shirt that said "Yes, I Am a Pyro. Need a Light?" with a lit match in the corner.

"Yeah, I forgot it was so good," Kem said happily, putting her dirty plate in the small sink and rinsing it off. She put it in the dishwasher and proceeded to do the same with everyone's dirty plates.

By the time she was done, everyone, except for Lupe, was looking at her oddly.

"What?" she asked, tossing one of the icepacks from the small corner freezer of the fridge to Lupe. He caught it with a mumbled "thanks" and pressed it to his right temple, wincing.

I'll ask about that in a second. "Uh, cleaning much?"

"I'm fine with dirt and twigs and messy _outside_, just not inside. Call it a cleaning impulse, I don't think about it I just _do_," she said, slapping Lupe's hand lightly and moving the icepack farther up his head.

"Hm, well lord knows the guys could use that," I muttered, shooting a withering glance at Fang. His mouth quirked to the side just like Kem's expression earlier.

"It was worse in New York. I was ready to rip something apart, all the garbage in the streets. We stayed there, though, because all the electronics helped weaken and scramble the signals given off by the tracking bracelets. The library there was a huge bonus; I like to read. I taught myself how to add and subtract in one day there, then I taught Lupe one night when we couldn't sleep. Okay, why does it feel like your head is splitting open?" she snapped at Lupe.

"You can feel that?" Lupe asked through clenched fangs, one eye open and looking at Kem. His hands were gripping his head with one covering the icepack pressing it tighter to his head. He's getting' a brain explosion, too?!

"Pain falls under the emotion category, and it's killing me. Tell me what's doing it. Oh, yeah. Where's Total?" Kem said.

"With Akila somewhere," Iggy muttered.

"Wait! Do you hear a strange Voice inside your head?" I asked Lupe.

He opened his eye again and stared at me with it. "Are you OK? No, some little dipshit's going crazy with a Dog Whistle." He winced again, muttering a curse.

"I'll make your head hurt even more if you don't stop it with the cursing," Kem threatened. Lupe groaned and moved the icepack to the other temple, his jaw tightening.

"A… _Dog Whistle_?" I couldn't help giggling. Need some Advil, Fido?

"Har, har. It freaking hurts," he snapped back.

"Your range of hearing is going make your ears bleed. We have some Advil in the bathroom. Hold on," Kem said, walking into the bathroom. She came out with a white bottle. She popped it open and poured out six and gave them to him.

He took them wordlessly and dry. He gulped them and stumbled to the bathroom a second later. We could all hear retching noises coming from in there.

Kem shoot me a look that said, _Sorry, so sorry._

We heard the toilet flushing and then Lupe sauntered out, looking like death.

"Can't keep nothin' down," he muttered, slurring slightly. Kem handed him six more pills. He took them dry again. He resumed his place at the end of Kem's bed, clutching an icepack to his head.

We were all talking more quietly then. After about an hour more, Lupe handed Kem back the icepack and said he needed to lie down. He headed out the door and Kem followed. So did everyone else 'cause they wanted to see the guy's room.

They all walked out with me and Fang bringing up the rear. But before I could walk out the door, Fang closed the door, closing us both in this room.

I was in a room, the door closed, the rest of the flock walking to a different building.

With Fang.

May the lord have mercy on my soul.

**Yo guys, it's me!!!! I wasn't planning to have this moment at the very end, but I swear to God, my fingers (phalanges) have a mind of their own!!! So, I leave with this bit of info, Max will NOT RUN AWAY!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!! Enjoy =)**

**30**

"Max, I need to talk to you," Fang said the moment everyone's footsteps had faded down the hall. Well, crap.

"Fang, I'd really like witnesses," I said coolly, but my guts were in knots.

He chuckled darkly once. "I'm not going to tear you to shreds." He moved closer, sitting down on the end of my bed. "I just need to talk to you."

I was at the other end of the room, wound tighter than piano keys. "About what?" I asked like it didn't really matter much.

"Us," Fang said, getting up to stand in front of me. I was frozen in place, just staring at his midnight eyes.

He gently cupped my chin on one of his rock-hard hands and brought his lips to mine.

It felt like my brain had just stopped working.


	11. Chapters 31 to 32 Kem,Lupe

**31**

"Wait." I held up my hand, trying to decipher what that sudden flash meant.

"What?" Iggy asked after bumping into me. I guess I'd stopped too suddenly.

"Max and Fang…. Where are they?" I asked slowly.

There was a pause in which I processed that the spark had definitely come from my new room. Breaking the pause, was Nudge.

"OMG!" she said, literally bouncing up and down.

"I'll be in the room," Lupe said, wincing again. He walked away, trailing Gazzy and Iggy, muttering, "When I get my hands on that little…." And so on.

"Run and be quiet," I whispered to Nudge and Angel. They both nodded and we padded silently down the hallway, back to the room.

There was a small peephole in the door and I stood in front of it, looking in.

Ahh, love was in the air. There stood Max and Fang, full-on make out session; Max's arms around Fang's neck and his arms around her waist.

I silently waved Nudge over who, upon looking in the peephole, looked like breaking into song. After a moment, Angel looked in. she was a little too short to reach it, I gave her a slight boost. She smiled widely after looking and looked ready to break into a victory-dance.

I shifted slightly and Angel lost her balance on my back. Crap.

Angel went toppling back and hit the carpeted hallway with a muted _thud_.

Okay, I estimated we had about fifteen seconds before Max and Fang realized what had happened, broke apart, and came to investigate. Hallway's empty. Good.

I did the one thing I did best: I started changing colors. I pulled off my windbreaker and motioned for Angel and Nudge to do the same. They did. I rolled up the cuffs of my pants till they were mid thigh and I shook out my wings and wrapped them around me.

Angel and Nudge did the same. Five seconds…. Okay, this worked during my little heart-attack/vision earlier, so there's no reason why it shouldn't work now.

I grabbed Angel and Nudge's arms that were closet to me and I forced myself to go the same color as the wall behind us and felt Nudge and Angel's skin, wing, hair, eye, _everything_ go the same color as me. Whoa, extreme drop in energy.

I let go if them, my wings hiding my clothes, my skin and hair the same off-white of the walls.

_The door opened_…

… and nothing happened.

Max and Fang glanced around for a second or two, seeming to peer closer to where Nudge, Angel, and I were pressed up against the wall, not moving, not even breathing. They moved on after a second, Max turning a deeper red than I thought possible, and started hurrying down the hall.

I breathed a sigh of relief when they turned a corner and started walking to the elevators.

"Whoa," Nudge breathed, looking at her skin with wonder.

"Yeah," Angel agreed quietly. I felt her concern about wondering if she could get her normal color back.

"Yeah you can. It won't take nearly as much energy out me as _that_ smooth move did," I said, tucking my wings back in and pulling my windbreaker back over them.

Angel and Nudge did the same.

"Here, give me your hands," I said, holding my hands out. Nudge put her hand in mine and Angel grabbed my other one.

The feeling of getting color back feels a whole lot like jumping into a tank of cool air. It feels like the wind's blowing you with warm air.

Nudge looked down at her body and sighed with relief. Angel was looking amazed. I was feeling tired and like I was gonna hurl, I was so tired and sleep-deprived.

"How did you _do_ that?" Nudge asked in amazement.

"Even I don't know, I think I just forced your color to change with mine. We have to beat them to the dorm, come on."

We took off charging down the hallway.

We arrived at the guy's dorm after about three minutes of running like complete and total head cases.

"Hey. _Pant._ Guys. _Pant_. We've. _Pant_. Just. _Pant_. Been. _Pant._ Spying. _Pant_," I gasped out, the stitch in my side burning. Usually running doesn't take that much out of me, but I was dead tired and we've been running like lunatic for about three minutes straight.

Angel and Nudge, though, were hardly breathing hard.

"Tired much?" Lupe asked sarcastically as I stood there doubled over, clutching my side. I was looking at my sneakers, trying not inhale too fast to actually absorb oxygen.

I just flipped him off, still in that position.

Then Max and Fang walked in.

"This is. _Pant_. Really not. _Pant_. My day. _Pant_."

**32**

"It she OK?" Max asked, giving Kem (who was doubled over, clutching her side and wheezing) an odd look.

"Aside from the fact she just burst in here and collapsed, nothin's wrong with her," I said, watching Kem stand up straight and let go of her side. She was still panting, but she seemed to have quieted down a little.

Max's eyes narrowed as she looked at Angel, Nudge, then, finally, Kem. She gave Kem a look that said, _Tell them anything, and I_ will _kill you_.

Kem was doing a wide-eyed, deer-in-headlights impression, looking innocent. "I didn't see anything."

_That_ sent shivers down my spine and I had to bite my tongue to stop from shuddering. Kem was lying again. She was pretty honest, considering she knew what lying did to me. She was lying for one of two reasons a) she didn't want to die, or b) she didn't want someone else to die.

"That would be implying you _did_ see something," Max said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was giving Kem a death-glare that Kem gives me every time I do something, or say something stupid.

"You can't prove anything," Kem said obstinately closing her eyes and jutting her chin out.

No shivers this time.

"Well, this has been fun, but I hear someone coming," Iggy said, lounging in one of the chairs in the room.

Dr. Martinez came in about a minute later, toting a small bag.

I ran my tongue over my teeth, trying to wonder if this was the last time I'd ever see them.

"Max called me," she said, walking over to the bathroom and calling my name.

Fug. **(Yeah, it still means f***. I have an aversion to cursing while typing, if you haven't noticed.)**


	12. Chapters 33 to 35 I Have Put the POV in

**I am sad. Twilight has more fanfics than Maximum Ride. I'm very sad. Okay, sad moment over, Enjoy, and you buttmunches better review or I will diagnose you all with "incurable buttmunchyness"!!!!!!**

**PS: 'cause I can't do it anymore and it's confusing people, I'm gonna start telling whose POV it is. Kay? Kay. **

**33**

**Kem**

He was sitting in the bathroom, fingering his teeth, looking at the various tools Dr. Martinez had laid out on the bathroom counter.

I was leaning on the doorframe looking at him, feeling his anxiety. "Is your mom a dentist?" I asked Max.

She grinned at me. "She's a vet."

I started laughing and Lupe looked scandalized to see me laughing. "Do I really have to?" he asked.

"You _do_ have to interact with other people, you know."

"It won't hurt, I'll just give you a shot of Novocain before we start," Dr. Martinez said soothingly, filling a syringe with a clear substance.

Lupe started to get really twitchy when he saw her come at him with the needle.

"I really don't think that's necessary," he said, backing away. "No one will notice. Please don't stick me with that. Wait, no, let me go. Kem! dammit, I said let me go! No, ow, not the kidney. Nngh." I had both arms pulled around behind him and I'd kneed him in the kidney. Max, who had decided to help me in the process of trying to keep Lupe from squealing like a little girl, was holding his jaws apart so her mom could inject him with the Novocain.

I saw him shut his eyes as Dr. Martinez gave him four separate injections; two on the top, two on the bottom. I winced as I felt the pain the needle caused him. His hoodie was off and his wings pulled in tighter as she gave him the third poke.

After she'd finished with that, Max let go of his jaws.

"That hurt," Lupe stated simply.

"Cry-baby," I mocked.

"It would hurt a whole lot more if I don't use it," Dr. Martinez said to him.

After a few minutes Lupe started freaking out again. "I can't feel my lips. I can't breathe. Oh, crap, I can't breathe!" he started hysterically, but I smacked him.

"Kem, don't hit him," Dr. Martinez chided me. "It only feels like that because you needed Novocain on both side of your mouth. You can breathe, just don't freak out."

Iggy sniggered from the other room. The rest of the flock was either in the room or at the door. Fang smirked at Lupe and Lupe gave him the sign of evil (he flipped him off). Nudge and Angel were staring at Lupe's mouth like a rabbit was about to pop out. The Gasman was doing something suspicious looking; he was reading the ingredients on the various boxes in the bathroom.

Lupe, Max, and I were seated on the edge of the bathtub and Dr. Martinez picked up a tool that looked suspiciously like a drill. "Question," I said, holding up my hand.

"Hmm?" Dr. Martinez asked, inspecting another piece of lethal-looking metal.

"When and where did you get this?"

"Max informed me that we would need this before we left this morning," she said, and Lupe said, "Okay, I can't feel a goddamned thing in my mouth. Can we do this before it goes away and I have to tear something apart?"

He's such a buttmunch sometimes.

"Okay." Dr. Martinez came at him while holding something that was _a lot_ duller than a drill.

"And this won't hurt," I clarified.

"If he doesn't move, it won't," she replied fiddling with a switch on it. It buzzed to life and Lupe was starting to look like he was gonna start with the histrionics again.

"No hysterics and I won't be forced to sedate you," I warned. Lupe was just eyeing the drill warily.

"She won't hurt you," Max said quietly. Lupe looked at her and seemed to nod to himself.

He opened his mouth.

**34**

**Kem**

Lupe looks _sooo_ much different without fangs. He just doesn't look all that ferocious any more. Which I for the better, I guess. Everyone relaxed after they'd seen he'd been de-fanged. Of course _he_ wasn't happy about it, but, hey, it had to happen.

"You look really different," I'd said to him.

"Bite me," he'd replied through his teeth (which were all [now, at least] small, [always were] white, and [now, at least] square).

"I love you too, Lupe."

"So he really does look a lot different," I was saying to the girls back in our room.

It was around 9:00pm and we were all in our beds, but too jumpy to actually go to sleep, though Max and I were ready to drop off to Dream Land.

"Yeah, and less like he wants to kill you. He really looked like an Eraser with those teeth, but know he just looks _reeeeallllly_ adorable," Nudge said, fidgeting in her bed.

"Ick. Please, Nudge. He's my brother." I mean, I'm probably going to get a lot of that to deal with from all the girls here, I just don't wanna deal with it till tomorrow.

"Well, he _is_," Nudge said as if this was obvious.

"Well, say I've just never had time to notice that about people. That's even highlighted by the fact that the only time I've seen different faces was for the past month," I said cuttingly. I'm dead tired and I'm being kept awake to hear how gorgeous my brother is. I think God hates me, or something.

"No need to be so mean," Nudge said quietly. I felt Max's emotions drift away as she fell asleep. She was closely followed by Angel.

I sighed. "Sorry, Nudge, I'm just really tired."

"Oh, okay. 'Night!"

"G'night, Nudge," I mumbled into my pillow. I was soon dreaming about uniforms, classes, books, and screaming girls.

**35**

**Max**

"WAKE UP!!!!" was how we were greeted in the morning.

"Gaz… get off of… me," I heard Kem wheeze.

I was roughly pulled out of bed and I landed on my stomach on the floor.

"FANG!!" I screeched up at the dark pillar in front of me.

He was laughing at my position. I immediately sprang up and slapped him across the face. He actually stumbled back a little but was still laughing. I surveyed the room around me.

Angel was hanging over Lupe's shoulder, Nudge was on the floor in front of Iggy (who was laughing like a maniac), and Kem was on her bed, Gazzy kneeling on her back (who was _cackling_ like a maniac).

"Wings," Kem gasped out, probably thinking her pillow was trying to suffocate her. Gazzy jumped off her and landed on the floor.

Kem groaned and tried to roll over only to fall out of her bed and land on the floor. On her _wings_.

"I think my wings have taken more of a beating than my body actually has," Kem groaned. She rolled over onto her stomach and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"Hey Kem. You look like crap," Lupe said to his sister, grinning. Angel was still over his shoulder and she was beating him on the back with her tiny fists. He didn't seem to notice. Talk about no pain receptors what-so-ever.

"Good morning to you too," Kem grumbled, climbing back onto her bed. She sat on the end sagging into the post a little.

"Please, this is me getting back at you for something you're going to get back at me for in the future," Lupe said to Kem, his eyes rolling towards the ceiling.

"Remind me to smother you in your sleep," Kem said tiredly.

"Will do," Lupe said, turning away from Kem.

"So you decided to attack us all, why?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, my hips going out to the side, my foot tapping on the rug. I gave the boys my best death glare. Another good glare wasted on Iggy. Sigh.

Lupe probably knew what was coming next 'cause he put Angel down on her feet and started to slink off to a corner of the room. I bet Iggy could feel my glare 'cause _he_ went to stand behind Fang. He had to crouch down.

"Wellllll," Gazzy started saying. "I could hardly sleep all night because it sounded like someone had tried to blow up the room." Leave it to Gazzy to use that metaphor. "They snore _reeeeeallly_ loud."

"Toldja," Kem mumbled. Nudge had jumped up to her bed and she and Angel were peering over the edge at me reprimanding a hoard of boys.

"I do _not_ snore!" Iggy exclaimed indignantly from behind Fang.

"Like a buzz saw that has something rattling around inside it," Gazzy countered.

"You little –" Iggy started, but was cut off by me.

"IGGY. FANG. LUPE. GAZZY. Get your asses out of here. NOW." And boy did they scurry out of here like the little pests they are.

"The only time Lupe ever dashed anywhere that fast was the time I tackled him for going through my drawing book," Kem said, grinning and looking at the door.

"Well, he certainly can be a handful," I grumbled, sitting on my bed and sighing. Any hope of sleep was lost now.

"He can be a buttmunch sometimes." I just looked at her for a second and decided she was very strange.

"Anyway, what time is it?" Nudge asked, jumping down from her bed.

Angel hopped down and looked at the clock on the wall. "Nine-twenty-six."

What!?!? We'd been asleep for _twelve hours_!? "C'mon guys, get up! Kem and Lupe've gotta get new uniforms!" I lovingly beat everyone into proper clothes.

Kem was about an inch or two above me, but was so skinny it was amazing she was still alive. As in, she was anorexicly thin. A beanpole with curves.

Anyway, she fit the shirt I gave her and she needed a belt for the pants, but was okay. Angel and Nudge were dressed and ready to go in seconds.

Out the door and to the guys' dormitory.


	13. Chapters 36 to 38

**You are all incurable buttmunches!!!!!!!!!!**** Oh, and I found this pretty cool.**

**IT IS known by many names and is the hand gesture of choice for most Australians who like to express their contempt or anger for someone with the ultimate "up yours".**

**In recent years the gesture has been known as "the finger", "bird", "the middle digit salute", "flying the bird", "flipping the bird", "flipping someone off", "shooting a bird", "flying the bird", "telling me I'm No.1", "the single-finger", "one-fingered salute", "birdie worthy", or by a range of various other names.**

**A buncha ways to say someone just flipped you off. Also known as shooting a Walton, (when using both hands) a double-barreled salute, or, my friends favorite, f****** off the Frenchies. Buttmunches.**

**36**

**Max**

"Who's at the door?" Iggy asked from behind the door.

"The girls," Lupe replied immediately. He would know that, how…?

"You would know that how?" Fang asked. He speaks!

I could practically _hear_ Lupe smiling. "Twin thing."

I decided it was time to take pity on them and walked in. "Yo."

"'Sup?" "Going to spit fire, or decapitate us?" "Yo, Max." "Shirt a smidge too big, Kem?" You can probably infer who says what by the comment. But if you can't, and aren't knocking on all your brain-cylinders today, I'm gonna tell you.

"'Sup?"= the Gasman.

"Going to spit fire, or decapitate us?"= the Iggster.

"Yo, Max."= Fangalator.

"Shirt a smidge too big, Kem?"= Lupe the Occasional Buttmunch.

"I hope you choke on your spit as you sleep," Kem said to Lupe as she walked over and deliberately sat on him.

"Ouch, that stings. You know you don't weigh a thing? If I couldn't see you, I'd swear you weren't there," Lupe said, shoving Kem who was clearly immensely stronger than she looked.

"I might just pour some salt and lemon juice into the cut if you don't get off your puh-dunk-a-dunk and face the Great Outdoors," Kem said, smashing her foot down on his.

He just looked at her through narrowed eyes and jammed fingers into her side and shoved her. "Ticklish spots are her down fall, for future reference," Lupe said, as Kem was giggling in a sitting position on the floor.

Nudge, being the adorable little nudge she is, got up and decided to tickle Kem till she couldn't breathe.

After a few minutes of watching as Nudge and Angel reduced Kem to a lump of giggle-prone mutant bird-kid, I put my foot down and dragged everyone out the door and affectionately shoved everyone into an elevator.

I saw that Lupe kept sliding his tongue over his teeth under his lips and that was starting to get supremely twitchier that everyone else. Twitchy McTwitchers.

After Lupe'd almost tripped out of the elevator, we'd made our way to the store on the edge of campus. Why are we all going, you ask? Because Kem'd told us about Lupe small problem with crowds, new faces, and staring, that's why. And since he looked like an un-morphed Eraser, there was a _lot_ of uncomfortable staring and giggling from the female variety.

Cow eyes at Lupe and death-glares at Kem who was practically glued to his side. Girls are vicious vultures when it comes to guys. Or rather, girls without wings, gills, magnetic-powers, or anything else of that sort.

So anyway, at the store, the lady behind the desk winked at Lupe as we walked past. She had to be at least 20! And Lupe had to be, at the most, a little older than Iggy! Then again, he did look like he was sixteen. But still, she had to be 20 or more!

The store was pretty much empty, so that was avoiding one land mine.

We walked over to where there were racks of shirts, socks (knee-socks for girls, regular for guys), pants/skirts, and shoes. We picked out a shirt and pants for Lupe and sent him off to the dressing room accompanied by Fang. We grabbed the second smallest shirt for our age group for Kem and a skirt that was a size ½. A half!

She changed into them then waved us girls into the changing room. Before I walked in I checked behind me to see if Iggy and Gazzy were planning to blow the store up anytime soon and saw that they were playing a word game, so I felt it was safe to go and check on Kem.

When I walked in I was glad to see that the shirt (with the exception of being a little too short, but maybe Nudge can drop the hem on it) fit but the skirt was too big.

"You're such a beanpole," I told Kem as I came back in holding a skirt with a label that said 0. Size zero is an actual size? Go figure.

"I was built for stealth, in case you haven't noticed," Kem said, rolling her eyes as she pulled the skirt on and buttoned the buttons. They were still a tad big.

"How are you still alive!?" I exploded at her. "That's the smallest size!" **(True story, peeps. My friend Lily is so scary thin, yet she eats like a cow. Faster metabolism than Nudge, I swear.)**

"Why is there shouting about being alive or not?" Lupe asked poking his head in. Once he saw that Kem was taking her skirt off before he'd come in, he covered his eyes and proclaimed, "My eyes are bleeding!"

"What are you, three?!" Kem snapped at him, yanking her skirt back up, her face a bright red.

"No, I'm fourteen and scarred for life even more," Lupe muttered, shielding his eyes as he turned from the door.

Nudge and Angel were having a giggle fit.

I sighed. I could feel an ulcer churning a hole through the walls of my stomach. I ran my hands over my face. "Okay, since the smallest size is too big for her, we'll get it and see if Nudge can adjust them." Nudge smiled widely at that.

"'Kay," Kem said, ushering us out the room so she could get changed.

"Wait," Angel said as the door closed. She tossed a small greenish-blue bundle over the door to the dressing room. "Socks."

We heard fabric rubbing against skin as Kem pulled the socks on.

"Too short," she said from behind the door.

Angel tossed another pair over the door. We heard Kem say "thanks."

"Still, aww, never mind," Kem said, probably starting to wonder if the clothing store was conspiring against her.

We grabbed four more changes of the uniforms, grabbed Lupe's changes, and paid for them at the register using the money Mom had given me to pay for them. The lady behind the counter asked me to give the piece of paper she'd just given me to Lupe.

I told her where she could shove the piece of paper and Nudge and Angel looked like they were wondering if that was possible.

Everyone walked out of the dressing room area, windbreakers on. As we walked past the desk-lady, Kem gave the girl a death glare and kept doing it until we were out of the store.

"What was that about?" I asked Kem as we were plodding down the walk to our dorms. Maybe we could go for a flight today….

She looked at me sideways. "Apparently hormones register in the emotions category."

It took me a second to get that one. "Sexist pig, much?"

"Yeah. My skill has been on the fritz since yesterday. I don't really need to touch people anymore. It should go away, though," Kem said, shrugging.

It got stronger after her little heart-attack? I wonder…. "Do you think you've developed a new skill?" I asked since before, in the plane, she'd known where Gazzy was and what was happening to him.

She raised her eyebrow at me. "A skill that wants me dead?"

"Maybe."

"Let me consult my Insane-O-Meter, and get back to you on that one."

**Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches. Buttmunches.**

**37**

**Kem**

I consulted my Insane-O-Meter and concluded that since everything is trying to kill me, it didn't register too high on it.

"The Insane-O-Meter says it's possible," I told her. We decided to mooch off the boys supplies for breakfast today.

"So, that would mean…? Oh, thanks Ig," Max asked me as Iggy handed her a plate of eggs.

"Thanks. It would mean one of two things. A) I can see the future, ESP, and all that, or b) I have a really creative and accurate imagination. Probably option a, 'cause of the pictures I have of you guys from my dream after we escaped." If you don't think that sounded weird, read it again.

"So, uh, what now?" Max asked, shoveling eggs into her mouth.

I was swallowing eggs so fast, I thought I'd choke. "Nuttin," I said around really hot eggs. After I'd swallowed a couple times I said much more clearly, "Nothing. If it kills me again, someone be ready with a crash cart."

Max finished off her eggs ands put the plate on the table in front of her. "Better keep a defibrillator around, huh?" she said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I guess." I wasn't really looking forward to having people revive me every time that happens. "Or maybe it won't happen again, and it was just trying to lead me to you guys." It was a possibility, although the Insane-O-Meter just sorta gave me the middle-digit salute from that comment.

"Yeah, and Gazzy's _not_ a pyro-in-training to his master, Iggy." Max snorted.

"And Lupe didn't mentally squeal like a little girl when he got his teeth filed down." Max started laughing.

"Up yours Kem. Up, freaking, yours," Lupe said from in front of the TV. Everyone was watching TV. Well, except for Iggy who was _listening_ to the TV.

"Don't push me Lupe, or o swear to God, a Dog Whistle will be your sanity's undoing," I warned him. I swear to God, he turned paler than a chalkboard. Little buttmunch.

**38**

**Max**

We chilled there for the rest of the day, and let me tell you, sibling rivalry is exceedingly fun to watch. Kem and Lupe are constantly going for each other's throats all the time. And they had a very sarcastic and spiteful relationship. Even Gazzy and Angel didn't fight as much as these two.

And the fights are almost always started by Lupe.

"So Kem, get any heart-attacks lately?" Lupe'd asked casually after we'd eaten some odd concoction of spaghetti, peas, and rice. It was insanely awesome actually. That was probably because Iggy'd made it.

"Cry over your teeth lately?" Kem'd replied coolly. Really, even though they looked almost exactly alike. Kem's nose was smaller and her chin was girly; Lupe's was more masculine. Their hair and eye color were different, their personalities couldn't be more different.

Lupe gets angry really easily; Kem stays cool, calm, and collected. Lupe can freak out if provoked enough; Kem won't. Lupe taunts Kem more; Kem shoots him down and get his hackles up. Kem makes dog jokes at him; Lupe can't make chameleon jokes, 'cause, honestly, how do you make jokes about a chameleon? Kem's ultimately nicer and more emotional; Lupe's meaner and more closed off. Kem cares about other people; Lupe cares about his family (which I really hope included us pretty soon) and only his family.

Lupe curses, uh, a lot; Kem doesn't. Lupe can be oblivious sometimes; Kem usually isn't. Lupe doesn't really trust people (although he has a built-in Lie Detector); Kem's more trusting. Lupe, according to Kem and the two pilots in the plane, has killed people; Kem hasn't. She's said she just couldn't bring herself to do that. Feeling someone's emotions when they die is just too much for her.

When Lupe gets angry, he's _angry_; Kem can control herself. They are really different people. Lupe shouts when he's angry, blows off steam; Kem keeps it in and just deals with it. Lupe doesn't hesitate to act; Kem tries to talk it out. Lupe can fight really well (when he's not surrounded five-on-one); Kem was only taught how to fight recently and by Lupe.

Well how do you like that? Three paragraphs of me rambling on and on about how different these two are. Yup, that's me; Maximum "Chatter Box" Ride.

Anyway, about two hours after dinner (eight or nine o'clock) we decided to stretch our wings, and _man_ did it feel good. We'd crawled through the window in the guys' room, which was facing a large forest, and took off.

Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge took off first then Lupe followed by Kem. Have I mentioned how huge Lupe's wings were? No? Well they're freaking huge. Not as large as Ari's, but still on the sixteen feet-ish side. Any they were gold. _Gold!_ I didn't even know wings came in that color!

I dived off next, not wanting to be alone with Fang in a room again. Fang followed after Iggy. Fang shut the window; why did he do that? We needed to get back in!

I angled myself closer to him. "Why did you do that; we need to get back in!"

He looked at me with no expression at all. "There's a handle on the outside of the window. It looks new." That has to be the most he's said in a week.

I just grunted. Ms. Hart must have had it installed for us.

We flew around for a while, during half of which I was cursing myself for giving Kem dark jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. She could make herself a total pest if she wanted to.

Take for instance, this.

"Geronimo!" she yelled, finally turning visible again as she canonballed herself onto my back.

"_Oof_!" That was the breath whooshing out of me as I was pushed down a few feet. Even though Kem weighed next to nothing compared to the rest of us, momentum made her a lot heavier.

She was laughing a tinkling and carefree laugh while Gazzy and Iggy were cracking up nearby. I looked around, trying to distinguish the laugh from the sky, but she was doing a good job of staying hidden. I couldn't even see the pants she was wearing.

Suddenly, warp in the sky caught my vision as it slid past me, catching me in its airstream. It shot past me and headed straight for Lupe who dodged out of the way.

Kem passed so close to him the wind was ruffling his clothes and hair.

"How'd you see her in time!" I shouted over to Lupe.

He turned to look at me, grinning like a kid. "I didn't see her!" he yelled back.

I just looked at him puzzled as he folded his wings in as Kem whooshed past him once more. He reopened them and pulled closer to me so he wouldn't have to yell.

"I could smell her," he said matter-of-factly. Uhh…………….

"Uh…. How should I answer that?" I asked.

He suddenly folded his wings in once more and grabbed my leg on the way down. I yelped. I felt Kem pass so close to my head I could've felt her wings if I'd reached up.

He released my leg and we both flew back up.

"Uh, thanks." _Yeah, uh, thanks, Wolf Boy_.

"No problem," he said. A second later he reached his hand out to the side and was pulled back a little before stabilizing himself.

I saw Kem return to her normal color, her wings a startling red against the sky.

"Joy kill," she muttered to Lupe, her arms crossed over her chest.

"This would be the air pest," Lupe said formally, handing me Kem's arm.

These two were stranger than strange.


	14. Chapters 39 to 41 HELP NOTICE

**When I was writing this hunk-a-junk, I was listening to the two same songs over and over and got to sleep really late because of them. They were "It's never too late," and "The animal I have become," both by Three Days Grace. Both totally awesome songs. The first one made me kinda sad, but in a good way, the second made me think of Ari, Max in the second book, and of Lupe in the end of the story. But I'm not giving anything away and am rambling again, so just enjoy my laziness and procrastination.**

**39**

**Lupe**

"Come one! First day of school!" the Gasman was saying as he bounced on my back (wings).

_Ow, ow, ow, ow…_ I thought with every bounce. After the sixth bounce, I figured it was time to get up.

I reached up, faster than eyes could follow, my face still in my pillow, and grabbed Gazzy by the ankle and turned him upside-down.

I turned my head to the side and looked at him with half-asleep eyes. "Trying to break me in half?" I asked groggily. He was hanging in the air by his ankle and was at the mercy of my arm. I was looking him in the eye. He looked so hyped-up I would've sworn he was on Speed or something.

He shook his head back-and-forth rapidly; his face was turning very red from all the blood going to his head.

"Is anyone else awake yet?" I asked, waking up more by the second.

"The girls are." I looked around him and saw the girls having a silent giggle fit over by the door.

"Well, why don't you go wake everyone else up and let me attack my sister, hm?" I asked, releasing him. He fell to the floor with a small _thud_.

I forced myself up into a sitting position, stretching my wings the full sixteen feet to see if they were still functional.

They were which meant I was free to kill Kem now.

"So, sending an eight-year-old to do your dirty business?" I asked them sourly.

They were just trying to smoother their giggles.

"Won't think it's very funny when I get my hands on you," I muttered as I walked over to the closet. I grabbed a shirt, pants, socks, shoes, and belt. Crap like that.

I walked into the closet to get changed so I would have to undress in front of a six-year-old, an eleven-year-old, and two fourteen-year-olds.

I pulled off the shirt I was wearing and pulled on the polo shirt, sliding my wings out the slits in the back. I changed from the plaid pajama pants to the tan dress pants, I put the socks on and then wedged the shoes on. I finally pulled on the windbreaker with the school's name on it over my huge wings, which, even though they fitted smoothly into the indentations next to my spine, were still visible outside the shirt due to the slits in the back.

I walked out of the closet to see Iggy and Fang rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

"Thanks, Gaz, now my wings are sore and feel like crap. Thanks. I really needed that," Iggy complained as he jumped down from the top bunk of Fang's bed.

Nudge and Max were sitting in the two chairs and Kem and Angel were seated on the floor, grinning stupidly. Well, Max and Kem were, Angel was looking like a cute little six-year-old and Nudge was grinning a grin like she was geared up and vibrating with energy.

"Got you too?" I asked as I went to verbally kick Kem.

"Yeah. And it hurts," Iggy answered. He walked into the closet and came out a few minutes later dressed like me.

"You sicken me," I told Kem and she punched my leg. She was dressed in an over sized hoodie, skirt (which was kinda short on her), and socks that went a little below the knee.

"There were complaints about someone jacking a chainsaw. I figured the chainsaw was you," Kem answered, jumping up. Iggy laughed and Gazzy made chainsaw noises.

Fang sauntered into the closet and out again in about fifty seconds.

"Well, class starts in twenty minutes and it takes ten to get to the individual buildings. Shall we go?" Max said somewhat sullenly.

Kem and Angel smiled and Nudge exclaimed, "SCHOOL!"

Kill. Me. Now.

**40**

**Max**

Angel had to go to the little-kid building, Nudge went to the middle-school building, Gazzy went to the slightly-older little-kid building (same building as Angel), and us older kids had to go to the high school building. We were all freshmen and in all the same classes 'cause my mom is just cool like that.

"So what do we have first?" I asked as we were standing in front of our lockers (which were all in a neat row. Weird, huh?).

I saw Fang glance down at our lesson assignments. "World English Culture. Whatever the hell that is."

"It's a fancy way to say "English Class,"" Kem clarified.

So, armed with our backpacks and wits, we made our way to "World English Culture."

We made it there a few minutes before the bell rang for class to start.

We attracted some attention. Five freakishly tall (possibly extremely good-looking) kids in huge hoodies. Yeah, we attracted some unwanted stares.

I saw Lupe trying to get a grip on himself. He tried to pace his breathing and keep his jitters down to a minimum. I could see why; all the girls were staring at him with excited expressions on their faces.

Kem wasn't nearly as bad as Lupe, but she was still flicking her eyes around nervously.

"Cool it, you two," I told them when were in our seats and hadn't walked in yet. "Nothings going to happen. And you two look like you're on drugs, you're bouncing so fast."

"Sorry. Claustrophobia, stares, girls giving Lupe the gaga eyes. I'm gonna go crazy," Kem replied with a sheepish smile.

"Just ignore them," I told her. I'd feel disgusted too when girls always stare at Fang that way.

"You don't know what they're feeling," Kem replied. Her jitters had clamed down and I saw Lupe's were, somehow, on the less-noticeable side.

**Kay, I've gotta question. I need to decide between these two names which on I'll give to Gazzy ('cause he's cool like that). and which one sounds more him. Here they are: ****Xanto (ZAN-toe) ****Origin: Greek. Xanto is a Boy's name. Meaning: Blond Haired; or ****Xanthus (ZAN-thus), ****Origin: Greek. Xanthus is a Boy's name. Meaning: Blonde, Yellow. So which one is more Gazzy? And I want to know so just tell me, (don't be a buttmunch).**

**41**

**Angel**

I had to go to a place which Gazzy. He didn't want to follow me, but Max made him. he grumbled all the way there about being seen with a six-year-old.

"I'm seven, Gazzy," I told him in the hallway.

"When did that happen!?" he asked crossly.

I giggled, listening to his thoughts.

_When did Angel turn seven? Does that make me nine? Does that make everyone else a year older, too? I wonder if I can get presents for this. Hey! There's a new bomb-making-kit that Max would neer let me get, but I bet I could Iggy to get it for me. I wonder…_ Gazzy thought, an evil look coming into his eyes.

"I'm gonna tell Max," I told him then I took of to my classroom.

I opened the door and the teacher looked at me. "Who are you? The new student?" she asked kindly, smiling at me.

"Pamela," I told her. That was the name Max had me pick out for myself. **(Guys, most of the names I gave to the flock have a meaning. Like, Pamela means "sweet" or "honey sweet." It's Angel people, c'mon.)**

"Well, Pamela, you can just take a seat in the back and wait for class to start." She gave me another pretty smile.

_Cute kid. But who names their kid "Pamela" anymore? It's not very popular,_ the teacher was thinking.

**42**

**Nudge**

**I got nothin'. I need her name first and I have alist I'm choosing from. There were none for "talkative" so here are some (or a lot) just choose the one you like best or is the one you like most. Here: ****Aldora - A winged gift. Suparna - beautiful wings. Iolani - bird of heaven. Enda – birdlike. Akilina - eagle-like. Arla – eagle. Gavina - white hawk of battle. Shaheen - royal falcon. I've got more, but I gotta go.**

**Peace, love, names, reviews (PLEASE!!!!!!!!!),**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	15. Chapters 42 to 45 POVs, still there

**Well, I just saw The Knowing and am ready to lie down and die. Seriously depressed me and **_**of course**_** we had to sit in the front, I now have a kink in my neck. The worlds going to end on my bud's b-day (the worlds going to evaporate from a super-nova). Sux for him. **

**Anyway, enjoy the pieces I spent my sanity on. Oh, and thanx to two peeps who gave me feedback for Nudge and the Gasman. Shaheen for Nudge, and Xanthus for Gaz. Max will be Maxime [that's really a name, pronounced, Max-**_**EEM**_**]; Fang, Cole; the Iggster, Dallon; and Total, Total. Joy to all.**

**42(the real chapter)**

**Nudge**

"So, like I was saying, this color is, like, totally _not_ you. You're a spring and this is for a winter. **(I know absolutely nothing about make-up and crap like that. Total tom-boy, that's me. So if there are mistakes, complain to my friend, Sarah [who's metabolism is faster than Nudge's] and supervised me during this piece o' crap.) **You need something more likely to bring out your eyes," I was telling this really cool and awesome girl I'd met at my homeroom class. She was totally pretty and had curly black hair and bright blue eyes. Her name was Jenna (_such_ a pretty name) and was really nice to me. She was short, though.

"So I need what kind?" she asked in her cool voice. Cool like clam and collected, not cold like chilly and mean.

"A slightly darker kind. More of a popping look to your eyes. It will make them look bigger and wider. That's kinda like this time when I was drinking a cup of Coke and my friend, Pam, made me laugh and I got this big wide look to my eyes before I spurted Coke all over her. She-" I was cut off by a bell. Why do I never get to finish my stories!? I'm always cut off or stopped.

"So I need a blacker eye-liner? That seems easy enough. Thanks, Shaheen **(royal falcon)**. A lot," she said to me as we were cleaning our things up for our next class.

"You're welcome. Really welcome. No one ever gets my eye for fashion," I told her. She smiled at me, making me think we could be good friends.

**I can write from nudges POV pretty well (in my opinion) 'cause my friend (Sarah) who is a lot like Nudge. Well, except she's not African-American. She has a motor mouth and can just go off on random tangents. Also, she eats, like, a cow a day and is still stick-thin.**

**43**

**The Gasman**

"So… Xanthus **(blonde, yellow. There were none for "passing gas," or "noxious")**," the teacher shook his head, "your seat is over there, by the window." He pointed.

I walked over to the seat, grinning evilly to myself as he muttered to himself, "Xanthus Leep. What is this world coming to?"

_What the world was coming to_, I thought to myself, _was a big surprise when I found out how to make a bomb out of Jell-o and dental floss_. **(Had to people, had to.)**

So I sat there through the entire class, not really knowing what class I'd was sitting through, plotting what bomb I could be making next.

At the end of class, I was walking through the hallway when I was bumped against the wall. A swarm of kids were clustered around a bulletin board, just staring at it.

I walked past them, not really caring what was there. I practically slept with my eyes open the rest of the classes, wondering if the ingredients on the back of the shampoo bottle were combustible **(Pretty sure it is. Don't ask how I know that.)** and would go well inside a bomb. I would see about that later in the forest with Iggy. We should be well out of earshot of Max, though, or else she'd start to kill us in multiple ways.

So, that's why, when classes got out, that I stayed away from Angel as much as possible.

**I'm still getting used to writing from multiple POVs so scusi (excuse me) for not entirely mastering Gazzy's yet. Not that you people would care considering, like, six people responded after, wait, lemme check. 'kay, 14 on your end and about 40 on my end. That's like 40 chapters in MR. c'mon people, give me some credit.**

**44**

**Max**

Lunch was somewhat eventful; Kem and Lupe didn't have a total panic attack, though. Kem _did_, however, have a little fit over all the staring at her brother.

"Well, can't they we're related and stop feeling anger and wanting to kill me!?" Kem hissed at me. I could only imagine her storing this up all day. The giggling, the staring, the blushing, Lupe's obvious obliviousness. And I mean he's on full-on Captain Oblivious and his full command over Lieutenant Loser's full force of under-achievers, mode. Even I surprise myself sometimes with my analogies.

"They're just happy a new guy has come into their midst. It will pass." _Or not_.

"The guys were staring at you a lot," Kem pointed out, and I felt myself blush slightly. She grinned; obviously satisfied she'd gotten her desired reaction out of me.

"They could be staring at the abnormally skinny and freakishly tall kids in big windbreakers, standing ramrod straight. Just a guess, though," I replied, rolling my eyes. I grabbed a lunch tray and grabbed three slices of pizza. Kem took three, too.

We paid for it and the lunch-register-guy looked at us (Kem) oddly and she flashed him a bright smile.

"Thanks," she said in a sweet voice that went with pink bubble-gum. She flashed another smile and then we walked away, me pocketing the remaining money.

"Multiple personality disorder much?" I asked, my eyebrow raised as we sat down.

"It would depend on how you view it. I'm no schizo **(Symptoms of schizophrenia are as follows: Multiple Personality Disorders; Hearing Voices; Twitching, also called Tics. [haha] Seriously, I looked it up.)**, but I can still put on a different face when _faced_ with a situation. I've also managed to do it a way so as not to lie technically. Lupe can't feel a half-lie, so it doesn't bother him. But that guy was feeling skeptical, obviously thinking we're spoiled, and thought I was anorexic or something. Bulimic probably," Kem said matter-of-factly, taking a bite of her pizza.

The guys showed up, each with four slices on their trays, sliding in one by one on the other side of the table.

"You know," Lupe said, taking a bite of pizza, "whenever the people say 'Have a nice day,' they're lying. The guy over there looked like it was strained and I got the crawly feeling again." He swallowed, took another bite, chewed, swallowed again, and went in to finish the crust before talking again. "They're really thinking along the lines of "Go crawl in a hole and die' or 'Bit me' or 'Shut the fug up and just move along the line.' It's really getting to me."

"Obviously," Kem muttered, taking another bite of her second slice.

Iggy and I started snorting Coke out or noses. Fang remained as impassive as ever, Lupe was glaring at Kem, the piece of pizza poised before his open mouth, and Kem was just looking at her pizza, chewing nonchalantly.

"You would mean what by that?" Lupe asked very precisely.

Kem sighed and bit into her pizza, obviously signaling that she didn't feel like getting into an epic fight on the middle of a lunchroom.

My sinuses were still filled with fizzing Coke, so I went to the bathroom before I started to explode from it. Iggy did the same, following my footsteps and veering into the Boys' room before I walked into the Girls'.

It turns out I walked straight into a horde of girls.

**Hey, what's the difference between hits and visitors? I just don't know…. And would like to know.**

**45**

**Max**

As it turns out, trying to go _around_ the horde was a very stupid idea.

"Who are _you_?" a blonde Barbie snapped at me. She was probably their leader. She had on altogether too much make-up. Lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, blush, and her hair was all done-up, held in place with what seemed like (and smelled like) a can of hairspray.

"Maxime **(maximum)**," I said. I loved the name I picked out for myself; it was Latin.

She inspected me over. She was shorter than me by a good three inches. "Have I seen you before?" she asked, still sounding like a complete and total snob.

I was really hoping Fang hadn't started posting pictures on his blog. I'd told him not to, but you can't really control these things….

"Now I remember!" she said, her face brightening. "Your one of the girls who know that new guy. It began with an 'l' or something…" she thought out loud, trailing off.

Lupe? "Lucas **(It says "From Lucia," but that's bull. It means 'illuminator')**, you mean?" Lucas Greene and Kimberly Greene were Lupe and Kem's "stage names."

"Is that his name? Anyway, he's really gorgeous, 'cept it looks like he has a girlfriend," she said, a snide edge to her voice. My anger flared at acid in her voice; any idiot with eyes could see the two were related.

"Her name is Kimberly Greene. Her _brother_," I said, emphasizing "brother."

Okay, I can't take it anymore; my sinuses are going to implode.

I shoved past them and into the bathroom, letting my nose drip into the sink. Eew.

**So, this was actually pretty hard to write. I was all depressed about that movie I saw and don't really feel like writing, but I was soooooooo bored in English class, I couldn't stop myself. I also doodled Max, but it's on lined paper (sad face) it's pretty awesome, the blue lines aside.**

**So, rate, peace, love, happiness, I was serious about the stalker vans, and press the little button. Let's aim for a total of ten please? 'Kay,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	16. Chapters 46 to 50 REVIEWS PLZ

**Hey, what's the difference between hits and visitors? I just don't know…. And would like to know.**

**45**

**Max**

As it turns out, trying to go _around_ the horde was a very stupid idea.

"Who are _you_?" a blonde Barbie snapped at me. She was probably their leader. She had on altogether too much make-up. Lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, blush, and her hair was all done-up, held in place with what seemed like (and smelled like) a can of hairspray.

"Maxime **(maximum)**," I said. I loved the name I picked out for myself; it was Latin.

She inspected me over. She was shorter than me by a good three inches. "Have I seen you before?" she asked, still sounding like a complete and total snob.

I was really hoping Fang hadn't started posting pictures on his blog. I'd told him not to, but you can't really control these things….

"Now I remember!" she said, her face brightening. "Your one of the girls who know that new guy. It began with an 'l' or something…" she thought out loud, trailing off.

Lupe? "Lucas **(It says "From Lucia," but that's bull. It means 'illuminator')**, you mean?" Lucas Greene and Kimberly Greene were Lupe and Kem's "stage names."

"Is that his name? Anyway, he's really gorgeous, 'cept it looks like he has a girlfriend," she said, a snide edge to her voice. My anger flared at acid in her voice; any idiot with eyes could see the two were related.

"Her name is Kimberly Greene. Her _brother_," I said, emphasizing "brother."

Okay, I can't take it anymore; my sinuses are going to implode.

I shoved past them and into the bathroom, letting my nose drip into the sink. Eew.

**So, this was actually pretty hard to write. I was all depressed about that movie I saw and don't really feel like writing, but I was soooooooo bored in English class, I couldn't stop myself. I also doodled Max, but it's on lined paper (sad face) it's pretty awesome, the blue lines aside.**

**So, rate, peace, love, happiness, I was serious about the stalker vans, and press the little button. Let's aim for a total of ten please? 'Kay,**

**RustyW1ngs.**

**Oh, I forgot it in the last chapter. Kimberly means "Leader of the warriors."**

**46**

**Kem**

So, the reaction of making two mutant bird-kids drip soda out their noses aside, I didn't get a very positive response to my very witty comment.

"So I overreact?" Lupe asked me, polishing **(haha, Polish/polish. Sorry, I just find it funny) **off his second slice and moving to his third.

Fang groaned (he's showing emotion! Call the press!), and rolled his eyes.

Lupe and I both ignored him.

"If I said "majorly," would you understand that it's a massive understatement?" I asked, my third slice of pizza halfway gone.

"So… you're saying… I can… overreact." Lupe just stared at me. His fourth slice of pizza was on his plate in front of him and my pizza supply was empty.

I wonder….

"Yup. Take three seconds from now for instance," I told him.

He just looked confused. "Three seconds-" he started but I'd already shot my hand out and stole his last slice of pizza. God, I was still starving.

I took off about half the pizza in one bite before Lupe finally reacted to what had happened.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, shooting his hand out and grabbing it from my hand. "What the hell?"

I was just laughing and trying not to spit sauce everywhere. I swallowed painfully due to the abnormally large ball of pizza in my mouth.

So, eyes watering, giggling like I was on crack or something, and coughing hard, you can imagine how that attracted some stares.

"You ate, like, half the slice in one bite! Jesus Christ!" Lupe was saying louder than necessary.

Iggy slid into the bench next to Fang.

"What's up?" he asked.

I was still coughing, and I held up my hand while I tried to stop coughing.

"Uh, gagging?" Iggy asked as Lupe, gave me a death-stare, finishing off his half-a-slice.

"No," I said, my coughs subsiding. I swallowed a couple of times before elaborating. "I just stole Lupe's pizza and I started choking on it. No biggie."

"God. One-bite, much?" Lupe muttered sarcastically.

I smiled at him.

"So where's Max?" I asked Iggy. He turned red slightly, but sniggered none-the-less.

"She got held up by a tribe of girls, just _gushing_ over how _gorgeous_ your brother is," Iggy said, trying to keep a straight face.

I felt myself turning red in anger. Call it a protective instinct for Lupe, but the thought of Lupe getting gossiped about by _girls_ gets my blood boiling.

"Whoa, Kem. You're turning red. You OK?" Max asked, startling me out of my snarling death-thoughts.

I jumped. Everyone was staring at me with a concerned face. Well, except for Fang, who was just looking at me, deadpan.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, just thinking," I assured them. I haven't had death-thoughts in about eight weeks.

"Okay, just don't, like, explode or anything."

**Look peeps. I'm aware of the massive time-jump here, but you'd be here for an eternity and a half if I decided to keep going at the pace I'm going, so were going ahead one month. It's 12/20/idk. Hey, that's the day before my birthday!!!!! Enjoy!**

**47**

**Max**

Deck the halls with bells of holly! Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la. Sing the ancient yuletide carol! Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la.

After that, the words are a big BLANK.

So the entire school is in "Christmas Mode" as Kem calls it. It's now December 20 **(seriously that is the day before my b-day)** and the entire school is now red, green, or gold covered. Tinsel, trees, decorations, the works.

Okay, so our room has a tree in it, but that's because my mom came by and decided to "Get in the spirit" with us. The guys have a similar tree in their room, except Fang somehow conned my mother into letting him get some black ornaments. I have also been trapped inside a room with Fang a few more times since then, but not, like, every day.

Since it's been a month, you might have missed some things.

Kem and Lupe have gotten really close the flock as a whole.

Kem hasn't had a heart-attack since the one by the plane.

Lupe's now best friends with Fang (don't ask me how that happened).

Nudge, Angel, and I absolutely adore Kem; she's like our new sister.

Lupe and Kem seemed to now be seamless members of the flock, kinda like they've always been there.

I also think there's something going with Kem and Iggy. (Wink, wink.)

Yeah, you missed some things.

So right now, we're on our way to gym class; wanna be a spectator?

We walked in, got into our clothes (they were somewhat baggy **[classic gym pinnies]** so they hid the wings), and walked out into the court to do the stretches.

We did the stretches, ran a few laps around the gym, and played basketball. It turns out that Kem and Lupe have very competitive side; especially against each other.

Kem's better at volleyball and soccer while Lupe's better at basketball, whiffleball, and kickball. Don't ask me how it happens with all the genetic-engineering, it just does.

So anyway, gym class! Whoopdie-freaking-do-da; we were awesome at it (Iggy was better than me actually. Grrr.) and don't really need it.

It's what happened on the way to class after gym that was the eventful.

We were walking along the hallway when, all of a sudden, Iggy and Lupe whispered, "No" a second before Kem grabbed her throat in the universal "I'm choking" sign.

She dropped all of her stuff and collapsed on the ground, unable to breathe.

"Kim!" Lupe and Iggy exclaimed, many people in the hallway stopping to stare and a few running for the nurse.

Her eyes were bulging and she was turning a faint blue color.

Iggy whapped her on the back in between her (hidden) wings. She lunged forward a little bit and Lupe was trying to get her to signal what had happened.

"Dallon **(blind. If Iggy were a girl it would be Cecile)**, stop!" Lupe shouted. Kem went very wide-eyed and then slumped over, passed out.

Fang lifted her up and did the Heimlich maneuver on her. No dice. He tried again, only harder and it seemed to work.

"She's breathing," Lupe and Iggy sighed at the same time.

Two teachers came by and lifted her up, a shocked look across their faces as they a) felt her wings, or b) felt how light she was.

Or maybe both.

"I'll take her," Lupe grunted as he held Kem's limp (but resuscitated) body in his arms. We walked to the nurse's office.

**No, Kem doesn't die. Would you think I'd kill of my character. She just had an attack thingy, no biggie. Oh, and so you don't get the wrong impression, Knowing was an awesome movie, it just depressed the crap outta me.**

**48**

**Fang**

"So your name would be?" the nurse asked me. She was an old lady, as all nurses seem to be, and was trying to get names down while Kem was lying down behind a curtain, passed out.

"Cole** (dark; oh, the irony) **Evans," I said, my arms folded across my chest.

"And how do you know… Kimberly was it?" she asked, consulting the clipboard in front of her.

I nodded once. "She's a friend."

"Hmm…. Could you please ask someone else by my desk please? Thank you," she said, clearly signaling that my little session was over.

I walked back to little waiting room area where Iggy, Max, and Lupe were seated all with various stages of worry on their faces.

"Max, you're next."

**49**

**Max**

"Maxime Rideau," I told her, my stance tense.

"That's a very pretty name. Now, how do you know Kimberly? And maybe you can tell me everyone else's relations if you don't mind. It would go faster," she asked me, smiling warmly.

"Okay. Um, I'm Kim's cousin, and her brother's name in Lucas. Uh, Dallon Leep is my cousin and he has two younger siblings in the grade-school building. Cole is one of our friends, almost a brother and there's someone in the middle-school building who should know Kim's here. Shaheen Blake," I said, nervously twisting a strand of hair around one of my fingers.

"Uh-huh, now, do you want to wait till she wakes up or should I send you back to class?" she asked, glancing around at where everyone else was sitting.

What a stupid question. "We'll wait, if you don't mind."

**50**

**Kem**

Uhhhh. My head was killing me.

I opened my eyes, finally realizing the antiseptic smell and the sterile feel to the bed I was lying on.

_Assault your senses…_ I thought to myself. I pushed myself up right and then a thought hit me; what if I was back at the School? That would certainly explain the antiseptic and the claustrophobia creeping up on me.

Then I properly looked around. I didn't feel any other emotions except for my own, which was good. Unless I was alone which could also be good.

But I seemed to be in the nurse's office.

And that seemed to be a curtain.

"Hello?" I asked quietly. The resounding thud of shoes on linoleum was almost deafening.

I was smothered by hugs. "Can't… breathe," I gasped out from in between the mass of bodies. They all pulled away immediately looked at me with concerned faces.

"You were smothering me," I said, frightened by the looks they were giving me.

"And you don't remember collapsing in the hallway?" Lupe asked incredulously.

"No…."

They just stared at me. Everyone was here; Nudge, Max, Angel, Fang, Iggy, and Lupe. Total wasn't, but he moved into the pet houses with Akila a week ago.

Max groaned.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Fang asked.

"She hasn't collapsed in a month. And now and then she's almost died. No, the first time she _did_ die. What are we going to do?" Max demanded.

I just looked at her. "I collapsed again?" I asked.

"Maybe we should take this back to our room," Iggy suggested.

I must've been out for at least two hours then.

**So peeps, R&R (or else) we were only one away from the goal of ten, but I think a total of fifteen for this then would be nice. Even if you didn't like it, then tell me so.**

**Peace, love, happiness, reviews, again, I cannot stress the stalker vans enough, candy and chocolate rabbits (yum……………) with a side of peeps,**

**RustyW1ings**


	17. Chapters 51 to 53 WOOOOOOO!

**51**

**Max**

So it's Christmas Eve and we all (flock, Mom, Ella, Total couldn't come) went to Apple B's! Kem didn't have another death-attack, but she did tell me what the one she had had showed her.

"Uh, Max?" Kem'd said. Everyone was asleep and I wasn't going to sleep with the chance of Kem suffocating in her sleep.

"Yeah?" I'd asked, rolling over in bed to face her.

She was standing up, fully dressed and was standing next to the window. She'd had an uncertain look on her face.

"…you wanna come?" she'd asked, shuffling from one foot to the other.

I wasn't about to let her go alone. "Sure," I'd said, bolting up from bed. I'd slipped on a pair of jeans (why are they called a pair if it's just one of them? One of life's unsolved mysteries.) and my jacket with slits in the back.

She'd unlocked the window soundlessly and slipped out just as silently. She was wearing dark colors again so I lost sight of her as she flew away.

I'd jumped out and snapped my wings open before I'd splattered all over the forest below.

"Uh, I'd like to see you," I said to the sky.

"I'm right here," came a voice from right next to me. I'd jumped in mid-air as Kem'd came into focus next to me.

"Okay."

We'd been flying for about an hour until we hit the edge of the forest. For all rights, we'd been going pretty fast. Around 180mph. I could go at least 300, but I didn't want to lose sight of Kem.

We'd landed on a branch, just like real birds, and stared at the moon for a second before Kem'd started awkwardly, "I, um, have something I really have to tell you. I didn't tell Lupe because he'd have me put under house-arrest."

I'd just waited, holding my breath.

"Well I just remembered, about an hour or two before we flew here, why I'd had that attack earlier. I had a sort of… vision." She'd looked at me sideways as if daring me to call her crazy.

"And…?" I'd prompted.

"And it was about me and Iggy. And the School. I was captured and Iggy was captured because of me," Kem'd said, staring straight ahead.

_Listen, Maximum. She can see the future, even if she doesn't know it yet,_ the Voice'd chimed inside my head, making me fall backward off the branch because I hadn't heard it in a month.

Kem had grabbed my wrist using her reflexes and hauled me back onto the branch.

"You OK?" she'd asked as I'd repositioned myself.

"Yeah, just continue," I'd answered, desperately wanting to know what happened next to make her think she'd be restricted from ever leaving the building

"Well, a bunch of flyboys came and grabbed me, who looked like I was out-for-the-count, and then they wrestled Iggy down, knocked him out, and taped him up. They loaded us into a van and drove for a while. I didn't get to see what happened after that because I woke up," Kem'd said, sounding sheepish at the end.

I just leaned back on the branch, processing this information. "Why- is there something going on between you an Iggy?"

Kem'd turned a bright red. "Not much," she'd mumbled so quietly and fast it came out like "Nahmush."

I'd raised my eyebrows. "Not much? Kem, you would know better than all of us about how he feels."

"I've felt the things I always feel when I touch Iggy. It's just that the love has intensified. I thought nothing of it… until just now. Thanks, Max, I really need that!" she'd said sarcastically.

And that's how, here, at Apple B's (as well as for three days), Kem kept starting and blushing whenever Iggy talked to her.

"Kem. Kem? Kem!? KEM!?" Iggy was waving his hand in front of her face frantically.

She started and blushed. "Sorry. What?"

"Do you wanna take the car back or fly?" Iggy asked for at least the tenth time.

"Oh, fly, of course." Kem smiled.

Iggy just nodded and followed the (non-existent) sounds of her footsteps out to the parking lot. Kem took off, then Iggy.

I just looked away and chose not to focus about that now. Home, goodbye's, thoughts of tomorrow, pajamas, bed sheets, dreams.

**So, Kem **_**does**_** like Iggy! Who woulda guessed? Certainly not me; these guys have a mind of their own. Just let me remind you; some major IggyxKem coming up. Also, we jump from Christmas Eve to a month later. 1/22/idk. Enjoy!**

**52**

**Kem**

Christmas was pretty fun. I drew pictures of everyone in the flock and they're hanging over all our beds. We (the girls that is) got our own computer for our room. Nudge got an iPOD, Angel got an outfit for her bear, Gazzy and Iggy both got "How to Make Bombs" kits. Wonder who got them _that_ one. Lupe, I'm sure. I got a windbreaker with a blown-up picture of a chameleon on it. Har har. Lupe got a necklace made out of shark teeth. (There was a whole lot of irony there. Just read between the lines.) Fang got a DVD player for his laptop. Max got an extreme make-out session with Fang; Angel, Nudge, and I know this due to the fact I have super-stealth-mode.

During New Year's we all kinda got high off of cookies and ate about a dozen each. Baker's dozen, if you count the extra one we all had. Then we all stayed up till about two-in-the-morning before passing out in various parts of our room.

But there's a dark-side to all this fun and cookies.

I've been having those visions about every two or three days, every one accompanied by some sort of attack. My heart hasn't stopped yet, but it's most likely soon to follow. I was short of breath, then passed out; I was having a panic attack from the anxiety of waiting for another one to come and I passed out and had one. I've stopped breathing a few times and I have a permanent bruise from all the Heimlich maneuvers that have been done on me.

You can visibly see the toll it's been taking on the flock. Max and Lupe both have hollows under their eyes; Nudge has stopped going off on tangents; Fang is even more stoic than ever; Gazzy has stopped pulling pranks on everyone and haven't blown the forest to bits yet.

Iggy's become more serious and has been silent and hovering around me.

It would go like this:

I'd have one, not tell anyone what I'd seen during it (it was mostly gore and death. Shudder.), everyone would calm down for a day, then they'd be stressed and strained the next. I'd have an attack, everyone would be frayed that day, and be fine the next.

Then it'd all start up again.

It freaking sucks.

"Hey," Iggy said, coming up behind me.

I jumped slightly. I didn't think anyone would find me out here. "Oh. Hey, Ig."

We sat in silence for a moment. Even though we've only known each other for two months… I don't know, I guess.

Iggy broke the silence. "So, whatcha doing out here, on the edge of the forest?" he asked, scooting a little closer to me.

I looked at him sideways. Even though he's blind, he has more coordination than me and can move around on this branch without falling off. I had my legs pulled up to my chest and my arms wrapped around them. "Just thinking." I closed my eyes.

"About what?" I knew he was blind, but I could practically feel him looking at me with his sightless blue eyes.

I sighed. "Stuff."

"You know what I'm thinking about?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes and saw him grinning at me.

"No, what?" I asked, wondering what he was thinking.

**(I know this may seen OOC character, but believe me, mushy stuff is **_**not**_** Iggy's forte)**

"That I'd really like to kiss you right now." He turned red slightly, but still had the smile that made the world seem like a more livable place.

I could feel my eyeballs falling out of my head. "Wha-" I started, but was silenced by his lips on mine.

You could tell Iggy had never done this before and neither had I. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he slid his down to my waist. He tilted his head since he was so dang tall.

I got on my knees, my eyes closed, still kissing him. I was starting to get a little light-headed. Oh, yeah. Breathe through your nose! That's why you have one!

I did.

My heart started thumping and I was sure Iggy could feel it through my shirt.

I was the one to break it after it was starting to border on faintly ridiculous how long we were kissing.

I leaned back and said, "Whoa."

Iggy was smirking. ""Whoa" is right," he murmured, touching his lips.

I flushed. "You started it."

He shoved me playfully, "And you're the one who got really into it." He smirked again.

"I'm rolling my eyes, Ig." I looked at the dark sky. It was light when I got here. "C'mon," I sighed, "we have to get back before Lupe and Max have heart-attacks."

"Don't joke about that stuff. You never know when it could happen to you," Iggy commented as we jumped off the branch and flew towards home.

**WOOOO!!!!! They're together!!!!!!!!!!! I did **_**not**_** see that one coming!!!! Enjoyed this chapter!?!?!!?!?!? Well tell me!!!!**

**53**

**Max**

"Okay, I can't find Kem anywhere!" I exclaimed as Fang, Gazzy, and Lupe walked into Angel, Nudge, Kem, and my room.

"Small world. We can't find the Iggster anywhere, either," Lupe muttered sourly. He flopped down in a chair and sighed heavily.

I raised my eyebrows. "No kidding." Okay, so Iggy's probably with Kem. But they've been gone a pretty long time….

We all jumped when there was a tap on the window.

I looked and was startled to see… Iggy holding Kem? Oh, crap; Kem's out cold.

I opened the window and Iggy flew in.

"God, I had to fly with her most of the way here 'cause she fainted while flying," Iggy stated as he put her on her bed.

"So she's OK?" Lupe asked anxiously.

Iggy turned red. "Yeah. She's fine. Nothing stopped."

I raised my eyebrow at Fang and he looked at Iggy sideways. "Hey Iggy, what were you two doing out there?" Fang asked.

Lupe's eyebrow went up in one solid movement, nothing else moving.

"Nothing," Iggy said a little too quickly.

I saw Lupe's jaw tighten. OVER PROTECTIVE BROTHER MODE!!!! DUCK AND COVER!!!! "What were you two doing?" Lupe asked quietly.

I started sidestepping out of the room, signaling slightly with my head for Angel and Nudge to follow. Gazzy moved next to me and hid behind Nudge. Fang just stayed where he was. We were pressed against the wall by the bathroom door.

Iggy looked like he was starting to get mad. "Nothing, OK! She passed out while flying! Do you know how _bad_ that is!? She could've _died_!" Iggy shouted, breathing heavily.

Lupe had a clam and impassive look on his face as he said, "She's my sister and I've been on the overwhelmed side for this past month. And you two just disappearing," Lupe continued, getting louder, "doesn't help with it! she's almost died so many times before you'd even met her; before you even thought it was possible for her to exist, and you have the nerve to yell at me for wanting to protect her!?" Lupe was baring his teeth at Iggy. They were still small and filed down, but Kem said they should fall out and be replaced by March.

The tension in the air was palpable. I should probably break this up before it comes to blows and Iggy gets his throat ripped out.

"Guys look. It's late and we've all had a trying day, so let's just get to bed," I suggested firmly, all but shoving Lupe, Iggy, Fang, and the Gasman out the door.

**Okay!!! So Lupe is the over-protective type, huh? Who would've guessed it? okay, well, everyone, but would you think Kem and Iggy would be good for each other? Or are they too different?**

**Peace, love, happiness, reviews (I still want fifteen. Some stories have, like, 400 and I have 9. where's the justice in that?), more chocolate bunnies,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	18. Chapters 54 to 57 I'm getting depressed

**We're jumping ahead another month peeps. 2/28/idk.**

**54**

**Kem**

There are only two souls on the face of this twisted planet that know about me and Iggy. Angel and Max. Angel, 'cause how do you stop a mind-reading seven-year-old from knowing everything; Max, because she's my best friend and I needed someone to talk to.

Lupe'd apologized for freaking out on Iggy on my request otherwise he'd have held onto that grudge till he died. Iggy'd just grunted and went back being mischievous with the Gasman. Everyone seemed to be getting less stressed-out, but they were still uneasy

I couldn't stand it for much longer; the tension I was causing my family. Yes, I counted them all as my family now. They've been so good to us. They let us stay with them, they took of those damned bracelets, and I saw the old Lupe for a few months.

I met Iggy here.

I mused on all of this I took my shower for the day. It was morning and a Saturday. Angel and Nudge were out with Total, doing something; Max was out with Fang, probably getting ice-cream or something. Gazzy was with Lupe, again, doing something I was going to bust them for later.

Iggy was- I don't really know where Iggy is at the moment.

On the plus-side, I haven't passed out in about three days! Yay for me!

Well, I stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping myself in it. Just as I was about to take the step to lead me to the door, I blacked out.

**Dun Dun Dun!!!!!! My story is depressing me right now. I wonder why? Oh well, it gets happier.**

**55**

**Iggy**

"Kem?" I called as I stepped through the door. I heard speculation and water running.

_Just taking a shower…_ I thought to myself.

I counted the steps to the chair on the left, my right. I plopped down in it, wondering when Kem was going to get out of the shower. I wanted to go for a fly and I'm sure she did too.

I heard the water turn off. _Finally_, I thought. I heard the closet opening and closing, Kem's soft footsteps, the towel rubbing against her… okay, daydreaming getting too graphic there.

When I heard a crash and some bottles falling over, my blood turned to ice.

"Kem!?" I called, banging on the door.

"KEM!!" I yelled, throwing my weight against the door. No go. I pushed harder.

I felt the door give way and I rushed in.

Well what was I going to do now; I'm freaking _blind_! I can't see a damne- oh.

I'd started walking forward and I'd bumped into what I assumed to be Kem's foot. I bent over and felt along her to see if anything was broken.

Let's see… legs… towel… uh, _not_ towel **(if you don't get it, don't try to)**… neck… head. I felt around her skull and felt a warm, sticky liquid. **(Peeps, Iggy curses in this. 'Kay? 'Kay.)**

Shit.

I heard the door to the room open and close. It was Max and Fang.

"Guys!" I called out. I heard running and some sucking in of breath.

"What happened?" Max asked at the same that Fang said, "Jesus Christ."

"She passed out again. She's still breathing, but she seems to have cracked her skull," I reiterated for them, thinking back to the crashing bottles.

"Uh, Ig," Fang muttered.

"What?" I snapped, frustrated; why didn't they get her off the floor yet?

"She's, uh, just come out of there and let Max deal with it," Fang said, tugging me up.

What- oh. I felt my face turn red.

"She's not entirely in the towel, is she?"

"No, buddy. She isn't."

**56**

**Lupe**

So Kem fainted. Again. Life is sucking too hard for words right now. She seems pretty happy, though. Well, happier than is usual for her.

But she's definitely hiding something from me. Whenever I ask her a direct question, she deflects it. It definitely has something to do with Iggy, though. Of that, I was certain.

I mused on this as I was in bed on Sunday morning, puking my guts out from an overload of dark-chocolate.

"You're such a ditz," Kem commented upon seeing me curled up on my bed.

"So, run it by me again. What happened?" Max asked no one in particular.

"Well," Iggy started, trying not to laugh at me, "remember that plate of, like, 400 cookies your mom brought by yesterday?"

Max said, "Yeah. Wait, Kem? Is Lupe allergic to… chocolate?"

"Dark-chocolate. Your mom must've run out of milk and used dark. This guy," Kem said, poking me in the head, "is more dog than he looks."

"So I've noticed," Max muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Well excuse me for not realizing the chocolate chunks were darker than usual!" I snapped, my stomach roiling again. I fell of the bed and schlepped to the bathroom.

Ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh… ugh **(you get the idea. His tummy hurts.)**.

**Poor Lupe. He's just such a fun character to harass.**

**SKIPPIN' AHEAD AGAIN!!!!!!!! I was serious about being here an eternity and a half so we're going ahead TWO months!!! 4/20/idk.**

**57**

**Kem**

"GOTHCHA!" the Gasman yelled as he jumped on Lupe's back and shocked him. Yeah, Gazzy got a new power. Fun.

"YEEEAAAH!" Lupe shouted as he was electrocuted.

"Gaz, stop electrocuting my brother," I commented, reading one of the library's many books.

"Fiiine," Gazzy drawled. He came up behind me. "Whatcha reading?"

"Book," I said, turning the page.

Gazzy harrumphed and pouted. He grinned suddenly. "What's it about?"

"Stuff," I said, rereading the same sentence for the third time.

"Oh…. Whatcha doin' now?" he asked a few seconds later.

I was cranky with lack of sleep from being haunted by dreams of Skye locked in a cage and horrible tests being done on her. I was, to say the least, an angry, tired, and crabby witch. I slammed the book down. "Nothing, now! What do you want?!" I snapped at him.

He just crushed his lips together and walked away.

"Nice," Max remarked.

"What?" I snapped at Max.

"PMSing much?" **(Oh, God, laughed so hard when I put that part.)** Max stated.

I turned red. "Just tired. Really bad dream last night." Total understatement.

Max smirked at me.

"Bite me," I muttered, turning back to my book.

**A/N!!!!!!!!**

**So, how as it? it's sad, I know. It's making me depressed. But it gets better and has two songfics coming. I hate them too, but the songs just seemed to fit so well. So tell me what you liked most, who your favorite character is, what your favorite color is, anything.**

**Peace, love, happiness, matzahs (no, I'm not Jewish. They just taste good.), Hershey Kisses,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	19. Chapters 58 to 63

**58**

**Max**

Kem's been acting off. She's been quiet and won't sit in a room with Angel for very long. She jumps when someone talks to her, doesn't laugh that much anymore, and always has a look of extreme concentration on her face.

"Uh, Kem?" I asked her one night. It was very late and I'd been watching her for the past few hours, just staring at the waning moon.

She jumped (surprise surprise) and turned to look at me. "Hey Max. Still awake?"

"Yeah. You OK? You seem… off," I said, sitting cross-legged on my bed.

She looked tired. Circles under her eyes made her look older and sadder. "Yeah. Just couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

She closed her eyes for a second too long for a blink. "Nightmares."

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. "About what?" I asked, trying to get information from her.

She locked herself up instantly. "Stuff," she said secretively. She seemed to think for a second after, though, because she elaborated. "Just… things from when we were at the School. Lupe, Skyler, and I," Kem said.

That was enough to make me stop pressing for details. She'd been to the School longer than me; that was enough to inspire nightmares.

"Just… get to bed," I told her before turning over in my bed.

**Break Away. Just seemed to fit.**

_Grew up in a small town  
And when the rain would fall down  
I'd just stare out my window_

_Dreaming of what could be  
And if I'd end up happy  
I would pray_

_Trying hard to reach out  
But when I'd try to speak out  
Felt like no one could hear me_

_Wanted to belong here  
But something felt so wrong here  
So I pray  
I could breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes ?til I touch the sky  
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

_Wanna feel the warm breeze  
Sleep under a palm tree  
Feel the rush of the ocean_

_Get onboard a fast train  
Travel on a jet plane, far away  
And breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky  
And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
I won't forget all the ones that I loved  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

_Buildings with a hundred floors  
Swinging 'round revolving doors  
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but  
Gotta keep moving on, moving on  
Fly away, breakaway_

_I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly  
Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway_

_Out of the darkness and into the sun  
But I won't forget the place I come from  
I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change  
And breakaway, breakaway, breakaway_

**59**

**Kem**

I've decided to run away. The stress I'm causing them isn't worth keeping me around. I haven't told anyone; not even Lupe or Iggy. I love them both, but I don't wan them following me. Lupe's getting testier, and Iggy's been jabbing Lupe more often.

Also, Lupe has to get his teeth re-filed. His previous fangs fell out and will be replaced in a matter of days.

So I've been packing my little backpack with some things.

An extra pair of clothes 'cause you never know.

My sketch book and pencils, erasers, sharpener.

My chameleon windbreaker.

A bunch of canned food and three water bottles.

I opened the window to our room soundlessly and slipped through. Before I shut the window, I placed a slip of paper between the window and the sill.

It held one word: _Sorry_.

* * *

Next stop I made was to the guys' room. I opened the window with a slight _snick_. Ugh, when was the last time they cleaned this place?

I walked over to Lupe's bed and looked at him for a second. His face crinkled and his nose twitched before relaxing again. I wondered if her knew I was standing next to him and if her knew what I was about to do.

I kissed him on the cheek, knowing that if I got away, I'd probably never see him again.

I walked over to Iggy's bed (he was on the top bunk) and squeezed his hand.

His lips twitched and he murmured, "Don't go."

I held my breath; was he awake?

He sighed and smiled. "I love you too."

He didn't open his eyes, but he smiled and sighed again.

I felt my throat close up and tears prick at my eyes.

I turned away before I could convince myself to stay. I placed the note on the desk in front of the window. A note that held the same, one word: _Sorry_.

I slipped out the window before I could start bawling at the top of my lungs.

The window shut with a faint _thud_ and a silent _click_.

**Okay, that made me incredibly sad to write. Kem isn't the type to run from her fears, but she isn't self-serving. She's good to the core. Anyway, keep reading…**

**60**

**Iggy**

I started awake when I heard the window shut and the lock click shut. I knew it was the window; I have the identification of sounds down to a fine art.

I jumped off the bed and was surprised when I heard no one stirring. Guess I was pretty quiet.

I walked over to the window and put my hand on the table for support so I could feel the lock; see if it was cold or warm. I felt paper crackle under my hand.

I closed my hand into a fist around the small piece of paper and lifted it up. I unfolded it and ran my fingers over the heavily pressed-in words on the paper.

Only Kem has ever done that for me.

There was only one word on the paper: _SORRY_.

I felt my throat close up.

I knew she couldn't be far away and if I flew I'd probably hear her.

I grabbed a windbreaker off the back of the chair, opened the window, and jumped out.

**61**

**Kem**

I furiously beat my wings and wiped the tears out of my eyes. Flying with tears in your eyes isn't good; you can't really see where you're going.

I landed on a tree, let the tears fall for a second, then took off again.

I was a little wobbly in the air, but I managed to stay airborne.

I saw a flash of lightning and heard the crack of thunder almost right after.

_Great, just great_, I thought bitterly as I was pelted in the head by a drop of rain, but didn't stop. I didn't want to lose any time in getting away.

I was flying for a good and solid three hours before I finally glanced down and saw a clearing.

A clearing full of flyboys.

_Oh, holy shiz_, I had enough time to think before a panic attack came followed by a black-out.

**62**

**Iggy**

I was flying, in the rain, for three hours. Does the phrase "Chilled to the bone while being freaking _blind_" sum it up well? I mean, the only reason I know I'm going in the right direction is because I can hear a) crying, b) cans clanking against each other, c) Kem's wings beating slightly; the rain helps carry the faint sound.

My freezing thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion sound; a gun. A second later my suspicion was confirmed by a bullet whizzing past my wing on the down stroke.

_SHIT!_ And much worse ran through my head as I fumbled with the pocket of the windbreaker, frantically hoping this was _my_ windbreaker.

HAHA! It was! I pulled the plug out of the stick and threw it to the ground below.

It exploded with a loud _BA-BOOM_!

But then a thought hit me.

"KEM!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

No response.

_FUG!!!_ **(still does peeps, still does)** I thought and it can't get much worse than the F-bomb.

_What if she's dead? What if she's captured? What if, what if, what IF?!_

I swooped down low, wishing I hadn't come alone, wishing I'd woken someone up. A cold, hard, and robotic hand shot up and grabbed my by the ankle, pulling me down and thoroughly spraining it.

"Shit!" I hissed right as I was stabbed in the leg with a needle containing (most definitely) knock-out juice. I fought to stay awake, but was soon overcome by another needle.

_I really hope I didn't blow Kem up,_ was my last thought before I passed out.

***Sniggers*** **Okay, so I know the whole fainting this is getting there, but it won't be there for much longer, and she wont necessarily 'die' again, so, ya.**

**63**

**Lupe**

I rolled over and onto the floor. I groaned and checked the clock. It was 7:00!? Oh, well, at least it's Friday.

I got up and spotted the lock on the window; it was undone and hadn't clicked back into place.

I walked over to it and smelled Kem very faintly on it. Iggy was there too, and it was fresher. **(Look, I know he sounds pretty creepy there, but he's part wolf.)** I looked down and saw a piece of crumpled-up paper.

Fearing the worst, I opened it up and saw the one word that had been pressed very hard into the paper: _Sorry_.

It was Kem's handwriting.

I squeezed my eyes shut against the tears that wanted to get out.

Kem was gone and Iggy'd followed her and we didn't know where the hell either of then were.

I clenched my teeth and felt the holes where the other teeth had fallen out.

Max burst into the room.

**So. Whaddaya think? Is it good? Do you wanna know what happens next? Do you think I'm going overboard and am dragging it out? Tell me! Oh, and to ****Teaspoon****, I don't know what "Is it 15" means. Sorry, I'm kinda outta the loop (absolutely no pun intended)**

**Review or else I kill you,**

**PS: sorry i forgot the song, i'm forgetful.**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	20. Chapters 64 to 68 Happier!

**64**

**Kem**

The first pain I was aware of, was the throbbing at the back of my head. The second was the pain in my right wing.

I tried to move, but the pain in my wrist **(I had to look it up to get the technical term. It's the second large joint that allows a bird's wing to fold in and swing open. See, you learned something new from reading my crap!)** made me give an involuntary cry of pain.

I was clocked in the back of the head with the butt of a gun and I slumped back down, panting.

"Kem?" came Iggy's, somewhat happy, somewhat sad, voice.

I turned my head. "Ig!" I whispered. The situation suddenly seemed less deadly.

He inched closer to me and put his hand (our hands were taped together, as were our feet) on my arm. "You OK?"

I tried to stretch out my wings, but yelped again. I wasn't hit, but was horrified at the pain and the fact that my wing was unmoving from the wrist on.

I started breathing harder and closed my eyes and started sweating.

"I'll take that as a 'No Iggy, you bastard, I'm not,'" Iggy said, smiling. He put his hands, still tapped together on my semi-outstretched wing and felt along it then popped my wrist back into place.

I sighed, the pain gone entirely. "Thanks Ig." But then a thought over came me. "Wha- how- why are you here?"

"Yeah, about that. You're not very stealthy with slipping out of windows when there's a guy in the room with the hearing of a bat," Iggy said.

"You're not very stealthy with your sleep-talking," I retorted, putting my tapped wrists over his neck and hugging him.

I felt his embarrassment at what he could've said while sleeping, and then he stiffened and was overcome with shock.

I pulled away, but still had my arms in place. "What?"

Iggy's mouth was parted slightly as he waved a hand in front of my face.

I flinched back, which only pulled him forward.

"I can… see?"

**65**

**Max**

"Don't tell me you have one too!" I greeted the guys' as I burst through the door to their room.

Lupe was staring out the window, his back to us, his knuckles white from the tight fist he was making. Fang and the Gasman jumped awake as the door hit the wall with a loud _BANG!_

Lupe didn't move.

"Lupe!" I yelled walking over to him. He still didn't acknowledge me.

I grabbed his fist and pried his fingers apart, the nails of which had bitten into the palm of his hand, thus making him bleed.

He turned his head, his face deadpan.

I grabbed the paper from him and it had the same word that ours had: _Sorry_.

"Iggy's gone, too," Lupe said quietly, no inflection.

I just processed this in silence. It felt like my arm had just been torn off; Kem and Iggy gone at the same time, no idea where the hell they were, if they were still alive, what they were doing. My head felt so full it was like it was going to explode.

"Wha' hap'im?" Gazzy asked tiredly.

I looked over at him and saw him rubbing sleep out of his eyes. Fang was sitting on his bed, already processing this information.

"Iggy and Kem are gone, Gaz," Lupe said, looking like he was finally getting angry.

**66**

**Iggy**

Kem's eyes were liable to pop out of her skull.

_"What?"_ she choked out.

I couldn't see from my perspective, but hers.

"I see… me. Move your eyes around a little so I can see what happens."

My range of vision flicked around as "I" looked at a line of flyboys with guns, the inside of a white van, and the two-way glass divider between Kem and me, and the guys driving.

"That good?" Kem asked, as "my" eyes focused back on me.

"I'm looking through your eyes. I'm seeing what you see," I said. God, could I sound anymore like crackhead?

"Poetic of you," Kem commented as she lifted her arms up and off my neck.

My sight went to hell the moment Kem took her arms off of me.

"Wait," I said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. My vision flooded back.

"What?" Kem asked as we hit a particularly nasty bump that sent us flying.

"Oof!" we both exclaimed as we landed on top of each other.

"Ig… do you have any idea how much you weigh?" Kem wheezed.

"Sorry we don't all weigh less than a bag of potatoes," I remarked as I pulled myself up.

"I weigh more than _that_."

"You don't hear many girls say that phrase."

**67**

**Kem**

We were in that van for hours with nothing to do except muse about where we were going.

"The School," Iggy'd said immediately.

"No duh. I mean which one?" I said, rolling my eyes. His leg was against mine and he laughed when I did that.

We could talk freely as long we didn't look or sound like we were trying to escape.

Iggy seemed to speculate on this for a second. "Yours, probably. They would want you more, have more a reason too want you more, and didn't gun you down on sight."

"Thanks for being so blunt with me," I said dryly.

"Welcome." Iggy flashed me a smile. I smiled and kissed his cheek.

**68**

**Max**

"This is ridiculous! We don't know which School they took them to, _if_ they got taken to a School!" I exploded, throwing my arms up in the air.

Lupe was just standing in the corner, not saying anything, his arms crossed over his chest, a blank look on his face. Fang was standing by me, Gazzy was sitting on the edge of his bed, and Angel and Nudge were looking at me, waiting for our next move.

"Then why don't we split up and look? We could meet back here after a few days," Fang suggested.

I just looked at him before saying quietly to him, "We promised never to split up, again. Remember?"

"Yeah, but that was because we had some… disagreements. This is to find two flock members," Fang pointed out. You can't beat stone-cold logic.

_Don't do anything rash, Max. Don't split up. Think, which School would it make more sense to take then to, if they were taken?_ the Voice put in.

I held up my hand to signal I was in another conversation.

_Uh… Lupe and Kem's?_ I thought.

_And why do you think this, Max?_

I thought for a second. _Because their School would have more at stake if they found out about Lupe and Kem?_

_And why do you think this?_

The Voice's twenty questions are starting to tick me off. _Because no one has any idea they exist? Because they want Lupe like Gazzy makes bombs?_

_Right on the mark, Maximum._

**I love the Voice. It just imparts so much and the story would be nowhere without it.**

**Peace, love, happiness, Happy Easter!,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	21. Chapters 69 to 70 NEW STORY IDEA ALERT!

**Fences-Paramore. Fits so well with this.**

_I'm sitting in a room made up of only big white walls  
And in the hall, there are people looking through  
The window in the door  
They know exactly what we're here for_

Don't look up, just let them think  
There's no place else you'd rather be

You're always on display  
For everyone to watch and learn from  
Don't you know by now? You can't turn back  
Because this road is all you'll ever have

And it's obvious that you're dying, dying  
Just living proof that the camera's lying  
And oh, oh, open wide, 'cause this is your night  
So smile, 'cause you'll go out in style  
You'll go out in style

If you let me, I could  
I'd show you how to build your fences  
Set restrictions, separate from the world  
The constant battle that you hate to fight  
Just blame the limelight

Don't look up, just let them think  
There's no place else you'd rather be  
And now you can't turn back  
Because this road is all you'll ever have

And it's obvious that you're dying, dying  
Just living proof that the camera's lying  
And oh, oh, open wide, 'cause this is your night  
So smile

Yeah, yeah, you're asking for it  
With every breath that you breathe in  
Just breathe it in

Yeah, yeah, well, you're just a mess  
You do all this big talking  
So now let's see you walk it  
I said, let's see you walk it

Yeah, yeah, well, you're just a mess  
You do all this big talking  
So now let's see you walk it  
I said, let's see you walk it

And it's obvious that you're dying, dying  
Just living proof that the camera's lying  
And oh, oh, open wide, yeah, oh, oh, open wide  
Yeah, oh, oh, open wide, 'cause you'll go out in style  
You'll go out in style

**69**

**Kem**

I don't know how long it was before the car ride was over, but it finally was and we were pulled roughly out of the car and had black hoods shoved over our heads, thus forcing us to breath the sickly-sweet smell of knockout drugs.

After about… okay, so I don't really know how long it was; there were no windows in the room, I woke up and was inside a cage.

"Ugh, I think I just over dosed on sevoflurane **(see above description. My friend had to tell me what it was called. XD)**," I moaned as I unstuck my face from the floor of my very uncomfortable cage.

"Reading forensic books again?" Iggy asked as I looked up and saw him hunched over in his cage, his wings folded against his back and pressed against the bars of the cage.

His voice sounded hollow, beaten. His hands were pressed against his face, but he wasn't crying.

"You ok, Ig?" I asked, trying to align myself in my crate. I was way too tall for this thing.

"No," he said curtly.

I felt his despair at being back here. I looked around the room and recognised my surroundings. "Hey, this isn't your School. We're in Maine. It's always cold outside and even though there're no windows, you can still hear the rain," I said, trying to cheer him up.

"Whoopdie-freaking-do-da," he mumbled.

"Stop being so negative, we're go-" I stopped talking as the door to the room was opened and two whitecoats came in holding a blue fish-girl.

It felt like my heart had just stopped beating.

They opened the cage on the left of mine and hucked her in.

She immediately sat up and tears started rolling down her face.

It was Skyler, my little Skye.

"Skye!" I exclaimed, clutching the bars of my cage.

She turned her head, which was covered in patches of blue/sea-green scales, and her mouth formed a little 'O' of surprise. "Kemmy!" she exclaimed, pressing her face against the bars of her cage. She reached out and grabbed the bars of my cage.

"Skyler!" I turned around. "Iggy! This is Skyler!" I said excitedly to Iggy. He turned his head to face me and I reached out and grabbed the bars of his cage and pulled his crate towards me.

I grabbed his hand and looked at Skye.

Iggy's eyes widened as he "looked" at Skye.

"Holy hell," Iggy breathed.

Skye just looked at him.

"Skye, this is Iggy. He has wings too," I told Skye.

She broke into a wide grin and said, "Hi Iggy." Then her face became sadder. "Where's Lupe?"

I felt my face fall. "He's not here."

Skye looked like she was about to cry.

"No! He's not dead, he's just not here; he didn't get captured," I told her, smiling to make her feel better.

"Oh, good. Hey, he's blind," Skye said matter-of-factly.

"Really?! I hadn't noticed!" Iggy said snidely. I squeezed his hand till I saw his eyes water.

"Skye can tell things about people by looking at them," I murmured to him.

He shook his head like he wondering if the madness would ever end.

Skye pulled her cage up against mine and pulled on the edge of my shirt.

I looked at her. "He loves you, but you know that, right?" she whispered in my ear (the side of my head was pressed against the bars of my cage).

Iggy's face turned red and I giggled. "Yeah, I can tell."

"Good," Skye said, all serious. She was just so dang cute.

I think it's time I tell you some things about Skye. You've already seen her skill at work, but there's more about her than meets the eye. She's very smart for a four/five-year-old kid; she just doesn't understand what it's all about. She's like an oxymoron **(which, by the way is an oxymoron. Oxymoron in Greek means "dull sharp." Doesn't the human intelligence amaze you?)**; she's a naïve genius.

Four whitecoats came into the room and bent down to open my cage. I paid close attention to the key they used to unlock my cage. The one with three bumps, pink grip, square handle, number 11 on it.

They pulled the keys away and put them into one of their numerous pockets and pulled my cage door open.

I pressed myself against the back of my cage and bared my teeth at them.

"No fangs on this one," one of them said, chuckling.

"I wouldn't trust that assumption," Iggy commented, his hands on the bars of his cage, his eyes directed at the whitecoats in front of my cage.

"Yeah?" A blonde one raised his eyebrow.

"She's a feisty one," Iggy said matter-of-factly, nodding.

"Well let's see," one sneered, grabbing on my leg and trying to pull me out. I wrenched it out of his grip, snarling callously.

"I would say "fug you," but then I'd owe a helluva lotta money to the Swear Jar," Iggy said hotly.

Skye's eyes were wide with fear for me and surprise at what Iggy'd said.

The whitecoats ignored him and reached in after me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Iggy warned them.

Still not listening to a word her was saying, one reached in for my leg with both hands-

"FUGGING HELL!!" he screamed, clutching the wrist I'd just shattered with my sneakered feet. Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Iggy commented, doing the _tsk tsk tsk_ thing.

"Wise ass," one muttered, walking around to the back of my cage. I turned my head and saw him pick up a very large, wooden pole.

He approached my cage with the pole.

He jabbed the pole as hard as he could, between my wings, through the bars.

I really, _really_ hate that pole now.

Just as he was ready to jab it at me again, with the trajectory of hitting my wings with it, the proverbial gloves came off.

I crawled out of the cage and stood up next to the whitecoats, half of whom I was taller than.

I noticed one in particular; one missing part of his index finger.

"Seth!" I exclaimed like we were old friends. I held out my arms like I was expecting a hug. I put on a sad face when none came. "What, no hug for an old friend?"

He turned away muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Little bitch."

I smacked him upside the head a second before I was led out of the room by two of the whitecoats. I was clipped on the back of the head by Seth a second before I heard his face connect with the floor.

I grinned; I love Iggy.

**Don't you? He definitely wasn't played enough in the series; definitely my favourite character. And Kem's too, apparently (wink wink).**

**70**

**Iggy**

I felt so completely pissed off when I heard the smack that came from directly in front of me. I darted my arm out of my cage and grabbed the first ankle that came into contact with me.

I grabbed it hard, fracturing it (I was suddenly aware of the throbbing ache in my own ankle) and wrenching it back towards me.

I heard his nose break as it made contact with the floor, and heard Kem giggle once as she heard it too.

I released the ankle and retreated to the back of the cage a few seconds before the screaming started.

_Wimp,_ I thought to myself.

**Okay, so I'm thinking about starting another fanfic. Here's the summary:**

**Sinopa**

**I had a flash of needles and various bottles of burning antiseptic as I ran through the forest at top speed. I shook my head violently and commanded the crappy memories away. When they didn't obey, I just pumped my legs harder and focused on the one thing I had in this life now that I was free: Nastas.**

**So, whaddaya think? Is it worth writing? Tell me what you think!,**

**RustyW1ings.**


	22. ChapterS 71 TO 75 BIGGER NEW STORY ALERT

**Hey, did you know rap is called rap because it stands for "****R****hyme ****a****nd ****P****oetry"?**

**71**

**Max**

"Let's go! We have to go find them!" Nudge has kept pestering me all day.

"Shutup! Shutup shutup shutup!" I exploded at her and rubbed my temples; I was having an avid mind-conversation with the Voice. Wow, weird sentence.

_Max, you have to stay put! You can go charging off to save the day when you don't even know where in the world they are!_ the Voice was saying (yelling) at me.

_I know where in the world Carmen, San Diego is,_ I offered mockingly. Well, I really don't, but don't tell.

_This is not the time for jokes, Maximum,_ it warned me.

Ooh, we're going full names now, huh? The thinking caps have come off! _Voice, we need to find them! Unless you have any_ helpful _information, please, get the hell outta my head_.

It stayed silent for so long, I thought it's actually listened to me.

_Ask Lupe where his School was, because that's where they are now_, the Voice said finally.

I turned to Lupe. "Where was your School, because the Voice says that's where they are." God, I sound crazy.

Lupe turned to look at me with the same impassive expression he'd had on all day. No emotion at all; it was more annoying than Fang because Lupe isn't usually like this.

"Where was your School?" I asked him softly.

His eyes started to brim a bit, but he blinked and they were gone. "Maine," he said in the same monotone he'd used the entire day during the seldom times he's talked.

"Well that's where we're headed." I got up and Fang moved to pack all our packs with water, food, blankets, umbrellas, et cetera.

Just as I was about to grab the phone and call my mom, it rang.

**Spooky!!!!!**

**72**

**Kem**

They led me into a room with a hospital bed in it. The bed had restraints on it.

_Oh, joy_, I thought to myself when they started to lead me over to it.

"Are you going to do this easily?" one sighed at me, obviously knowing the answer.

"Hells no!" I said. She sighed again and led me over to it.

_Okay_… I thought, adrenaline emptying into my bloodstream.

Just before she was about to strap me down, I elbowed her in the face, breaking her nose. When she was on the ground, I kicked the legs out from under the other guy and kicked him in the… uh… it was guy, to say the least.

I strolled out of the room, pressing the button to open the door on my way out, leaving those two moaning in pain behind me.

**73**

**Kem**

I was moseying down the hallway, minding my own business, when I spotted something: a closet with a window in it.

What was more exciting was what was written on the card above the door: COLOR-CHANGING SUITS. RESPONDS TO THOUGHT. ONE'S ON LETF FIT TO BODY. ONE'S ON RIGHT STAY AS IS.

My heart almost stopped in the good way.

I rushed in, not really bothering with anything when the alarm sounded; I was way too excited.

I grabbed one from the left side and two from the right side and quickly stripped down to my underwear. I stepped into the suit from the left side and felt it tighten around me.

It didn't really feel like fabric as much as water freezing around me in a not freezing, bendable way.

Okay, I realize that makes absolutely no sense at all, but it didn't feel like I was wearing clothing. Okay, that sounds gross (unless all you pervs out there are trying to picture that), but I digress, and we go back to the alarms and whatnot.

I heard charging coming down the hallway, and quickly pulled my clothes back on over the suit; I wasn't going to leave Skye and Iggy here alone.

Just as I'd folded my wings back in tightly over the two suits I'd snatched, making sure they weren't visible, I made it look like I was pawing a suit from the right side of the rack.

About ten whitecoats rushed into the room and slammed the Black Hood over my head. I held my breath for as long as I could as I took out about four whitecoats, but then I need to breathe and my consciousness went to hell in a hand basket.

**Here's a bit of irony for you, Ari means enemy in Bengali; lion: Hebrew; eagle, and lots of other ironic things. AND IT'S A GIRL NAME!!!!! (frowns)**

**74**

**Iggy**

When they dragged me out of my cage to do tests on me, I almost saw red. _Almost_.

They didn't say anything as the wrenched me out and pulled me into the hallway. Not that they would have loads to talk about after… everything.

"Lay down on the table one commanded me.

I just turned my blank stare to his voice, trying to unnerve him.

"Fine," one sighed. I was roughly manhandled onto the bed and strapped down on my side.

"Stay still unless you want to be disabled for the rest of your life," one inconsiderate jerk said to me, accompanied by the sounds of metal clinking against metal.

Fugging BLIND OVER HERE!!!

He moved my shirt out of the way and I winced as the whitecoat stuck the needle into my back and into my spine.

I clenched my teeth and tried not to squirm; spinal tap, I was gonna have a big-ass bruise from this later on.

They took the needle out after about the fifth poke and led me back to my crate where Skye (Who, of the few glances I've had at her, has a heart-shaped face with blue scales framing her hairline till her chin and touching her eyes where her face dipped in towards them. The end of her nose to her eyebrows [and her eyebrows] were covered over with blue-ish green scales. It had a very odd effect on her face that was not unpleasant looking. Oh, and she had gill slits. Yeah, it can get weirder.) told me that Kem was passed out in the cage next to mine.

And that Kem had a way outta here; so soon?

I could only hope so.

**75**

**Kem**

I awoke to find Skye looking at me solemnly and Iggy sitting in some ungodly still position.

"Over dosing," I muttered to myself, rubbing my head, and trying to remember what I was so hyped-up about.

"You'll be fine. Now tell us what your plan is!" Skye whispered fiercely to me, still looking like such a cute little kid.

I rubbed my head, squinting. "Um… I don't really remember," I said uncertainly, rolling my shoulders a few times and rotating my head to get the blood flowing.

I felt something slide out from behind my wings and I was suddenly aware of the suit I had on underneath my clothes.

"Oh, yeah!" I reached behind me and glanced around the completely empty room. Feeling pretty stupid right about now.

"Skyler, put this on over your clothes, and don't make a sound. I'll tell you what it's about in a second," I assured her and she obeyed without a second thought.

"Ig," I said to Iggy, turning in my cage to look at him. He just kept the same stiff position and paced his breathing.

Ho closed his eyes and his breathing hitched, stopping for a second, like he was hold his breath and he let it all out in a rush only to suck in a sharp breath.

"Ig, you OK?" I asked softly, sticking my arm through the bars in the cage and putting it on his arm.

I gasped at the pain he felt.

"Iggy! What happened!?" I asked him, removing my arm and moving it to his face to turn it around.

He opened his blind blue eyes and seemed to look at me with them. He smiled a half-smile and pulled up the back of his shirt as far as his wings would allow and showed me the five deep bruises on his back.

"Whoa," he breathed, "didn't know they looked that bad."

"Iggy… what happened?" I asked quietly, my brilliant plan forgotten for the time being.

He took another deep breath and held it before answering. "Spinal taps," he said in a pained tone, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth.

I remembered those; they caused huge bruises that didn't go away until three days later. So we were stuck here for at least three more days. Great.

Suddenly Skye tapped my back; urgently and seriously.

I looked at her, still touching Iggy and gave her a questioning look. She gave me one of her fishy-faces she saved for when she was especially determined to do something.

"What?" I asked her.

**A/N!!!!!!!!**

**Okay, isn't Skyler adorable???? I think she is; I've got a picture I drew of her and she's pretty awesome-looking. Not as good as Kem's but still good enough o make my art teacher cry with joy.**

**Okay, enough of that; I was running really short on time yesterday and didn't have time to give you peeps the full summary of the new story for after I finish this one. Here goes:**

**Sinopa (yeah, she's a girl): main character; can't talk due to damage to her brain from her DNA. Is the main character and should all be in her POV. Sinopa is 15-ish.**

**Nastas (gotta be a dude): can talk, and has the same DNA grafted into him as Sinopa. It's fox, btw. Nastas is 16-ish.**

**They can turn into full-fledged big-ass foxes in about two minutes total. It hurts a lot to morph, but they got used to it. Nastas in native American with dark hair and eyes, with the customary skin tone. Shortie McShortness at only 5'9 for a guy. Nastas turns into a black fox because of his hair.**

**Sinopa is also Native American, but definitely has others in her because her hair is a dark copper with curls and her eyes are so dark a green they're almost black, but not quite. She's short; only 5'5. is a red fox, because of, you guessed it, her hair.**

**The story is about her and her escape from the School. Nastas escaped the year earlier when he had the chance and Sinopa never had the chance to escape and they bunked up on security when Nastas escaped. When she finally does escape, she sets out to find Nastas, who was looking for her for a while too.**

**So! Tell me if it's worth writing and if my stories make you drool in anticipation for the next chapter!!!  
Peace, love, happiness, foxes,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	23. Chapters 75 to 77 I REALIZE IT'S SHORT

**76**

**Iggy**

"What?" Kem asked, looking at Skyler.

"They programmed a skill into me," Little Skye whispered/shouted in the customary way for little kids.

"What was it?" Kem asked, my line of vision widening. Kem loved learning new things; she gets too curious, though, and drops her guard.

"Welll," Skye dragged, seeming to decide between telling and just stopping here. She took a big breath, closing her huge, dark blue eyes. It came in a rush, "They said I could heal stuff, but I didn't know if I could trust them or not. I think I can 'cause I tried it after I scraped myself on the bars and it worked." She looked at the floor of her cage.

Kem's eyes flicked back to me and I saw the stiff expression on my face. Since when did my hair did get all spiky like that?

I raised my eyebrow (God, I look cool when I do that!) and Kem giggled a little then was silent. I realized I'd never actually _seen_ her in any variation of seeing.

"Is there a mirror anywhere in here?" I asked her.

Her eyes scanned the room and came into no mirrors. But there were the stupid blacked-out windows.

We weren't in the right zone to be reflected in the windows and I internally cursed the whitecoats who did this to me. If there are any evil geneticists out there reading this, I just wanted you to know; I blame you.

"Um, no. Why Ig?" Kem said, looking at me again.

I could see myself glancing around blindly; it was a nervous thing I've always had.

"I, uh, wanted to see what you looked like," I mumbled, pulling my face away from Kem's hand; I didn't really want to look at myself right now.

She startled me by taking my hand (I didn't see anything because she'd apparently shut her eyes) and putting in on her lips, which were smiling.

"God," she said, "you sound really cheesy when you're sweet." She laughed and kissed my fingers.

_"Eew,"_ Skye said. Kem opened her eyes and saw Skye looking at us with a look of distaste on her fishy features. Her nose was crinkled and she was squinting.

Kem laughed and rolled her eyes.

Kem glanced around again, looking for something that I didn't know of.

"Making me dizzy," I mumbled as pain shot up my back with the small adjustment I made to my position. I closed my eyes and caught my breath.

Kem dropped my hand like she'd been electrocuted. **(OMFG!!!!! I JUST HEARD A COMERCIAL FOR **_**WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB**_**!!!!!!!)**

"Sorry," she mumbled. I could hear it in hear voice; she didn't want to share in my pain, and who could really blame her? not me; even _I_ didn't want to share in my own pain.

"'S'not your fault," I mumbled, very carefully propping myself up on the back of my cage. I was so freaking tired.

I heard the cage rattle as Kem stiffened. "Skye, take the suit off and squish it behind your wings!" Kem hissed not at me. I was sooo tired, even my thoughts were getting slurred.

I heard some shuffling movements, ruffling, scales rubbing together, and the cage rattling around a little.

The door to the room opened just as I fell asleep, slouched against that cage wall.

**77**

**Skyler**

I felt the woman whitecoat named Harriet walk into the room after Kemmy'd **(Skyler's the only person in the world who calls Kem that. she just says it because she got into the habit of it when she was really little.)** pulled off her shorts and shirt and put them on the ground out side the cage, showing white tight-fitting clothing underneath, and turned the same color as the stuff behind her.

I closed my eyes, knowing it was easier to know who was where when I didn't have to see them.

The room around me melted into different shades of black and bright blue.

Kemmy was next to me; I could feel her, and Iggy was asleep in his own cage.

I could feel him too.

The whitecoat named Harriet came over to Kemmy's cage and started to freak-out when she didn't see Kemmy.

I opened my eyes and saw the whitecoat named Harriet fiddling with the keys on her belt, finally picking one key with three bumps, on it, a pink grip, a square handle, and a number 11 on it. She jammed it into the lock on Kemmy's cage and pulled the door open.

She was pushed back by Kemmy who was still invisible and knocked unconscious. Kemmy became seeable again and started searching through the whitecoat named Harriet's pockets.

She pulled out two things; a small silver cell phone and a ring with lots of keys on it.

"Kemmy," I whispered, holing onto the front of my cage's bars.

"Yeah?" she asked absently, flicking through the keys on the rings.

"It's the one with four bumps, big, with a blue grip and has a 4 on it," I told her.

She looked at me. "Thanks, kiddo," she said, smiling, as she found the right key and fitted it into the hole.

She turned it and the lock clicked open and the cage door swung open.

She reached in and pulled me out and hugged until I couldn't breathe anymore.

"I've missed you so much Skye," Kemmy whispered into my hair.

I hugged her back and said, "I've you and Lupe too, Kemmy. A lot." She kissed my cheek and put me down.

She walked over to Iggy's cage and looked at me.

"I don't know which key," I told her.

She sighed. "Guess it'll be the hard way this time."

**I've got a random poll on my profile. Happens to me every time. =]**

**So review and anything else you'd like to tell me. 12:20 over here, so I'm dead right now. Woo! Let's hear it for insomnia! I'm not starting the other idea 'till I'm done with this story [which is coming pretty soon peeps, sorry to tell you]**

**Toodles,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	24. Chapters 78 to 80 Skye or Iggy?

**Sinopa is N.A. (Native American. Yeah, I'm lazy,) Black Foot for 'fox'**

**78**

**Kem (Kemmy)**

The hard way consisted of picking the lock using two paperclips. Iggy taught me how.

It took about ten minutes before I finally got it right. Iggy would be ashamed of how long that was.

When I wrenched the door open, Iggy was long passed out and breathing regularly.

I reached my arm back, putting it on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. "Ig-" I whispered but never got to finish, because he started and shouted, "AHHHHHOOOOWWWWW!!!!"

_Way to wake the dead, Ig…_ I thought to myself, internally cringing; that was louder than the alarms.

"_Ig_! Shutup and get out of the cage; we're gonna call Max and get outta here!" I whispered fiercely to him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So be it," he muttered before locking his jaw and crawling out.

He flopped down on the floor with his feet still in the cage. He groaned and stared up at me blindly. "I hate you for that."

"We're gonna call everyone else now, so unless you want them to continue with flipping out and rushing off with a rescue team, let Skye see your back," I told him, flipping the whitecoat's phone open.

He unfolded one of his wings and maneuvered it so it pushed him onto his stomach.

"Skye, please," I told her and she nodded and pulled his shirt up in the back.

I looked away and paid attention to dialing the number for the new phones recently routed into both the rooms. I prayed we weren't too far underground to get a signal.

Good luck; all four bars!

I punched each number in precisely and specifically. I pressed the "send" button.

I brought the phone to my ear and prayed they were still in the rooms, planning a daring rescue and not _on_ that particular rescue.

The phone rang once.

Then again.

And again. Oh, shiz, what if they're not there?

The phone rang for a fourth time. Still nothing.

The fifth ring, the last ring. I was ready to give up now.

"Hello?" Max asked, picking the phone up mid-ring.

**79**

**Max**

The phone rang again and I just started at it; was this supposed to be a joke? Gazzy wasn't making any noises, so no, I guess not.

It rang again and Nudge asked, "What if it's Kem and Iggy?"

And flying gorilla pigs have just taken over the world.

It rang again and Lupe exploded, "For Christ's sake! Just pick it up!"

I picked it up mid-fifth-ring and asked, "Hello?"

"MAX!!" Kem whispered quite stealthily over the phone.

Lupe's head snapped around to look at the phone. Nudge was pausing mid-bite in devouring a chocolate bunny; Angel was holding Total who had stopped sobbing when he heard the voice over the phone; Fang's mouth was open slightly and the Gasman was looking wide-eyed at the phone in my hand.

_"Kem!"_ I yelled into the receiver, mentally calculating the chances of a clone calling us.

The chances were pretty good.

"Wait," I said, "name all fifty states in alphabetical order, skipping all the states with at least three right angles." Kem was the only person alive who I knew could do that.

"Alright…" she sounded confused. "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin."

Okay, I don't know, so I'm going to assume this is Kem. "Where are you!?"

I heard some muffled cursing, a yelp of pain, and Kem telling Iggy to stop being such a baby. "Put me on speaker."

I hit the speakerphone button and Kem's voice came out a bit tinny, but there was no doubt it was her. "We're at the School. I was caught and Iggy… I don't know how Iggy got caught. I think he blew half of them up"- Gazzy whooped at this- "but they knocked him out. Oh and, Lupe, guess who's here with me!"

Lupe was next to the phone in a flash and was leaning on the table with both his hands.

"Who?" he asked, his voice low. He had an intense look on his face, as if he was dreading and anticipating the answer at the same time.

There was some rubbing as the phone was obviously handed from Kem to someone else. I thought back to all the things Kem'd said about her time at the school; who could she mean?

"Lupe?" a little girl asked, sounding ecstatic. A little girl…?

"Skyler!?" Lupe exclaimed, eyes liable to fall out of his head. His mouth was open and his new fangs were, if it's actually possible, larger than the old ones.

"Yeah! And Kemmy came and got me with her boyfriend Iggy!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. She sounded like such a cute little girl.

Gazzy, Fang, and I snickered at that while Angel and Nudge giggled. Lupe just got an exasperated expression on.

"Where are you guys? Whose School?" I asked, nudging Lupe off to the side.

"We're in Maine," Kem said. "Here, you're on speaker."

"Guys! Hey," Iggy said, groaning as he apparently shifted positions.

"Ig!" Kem said, cloth sliding against skin.

"See I told you it'd work," Kem said.

"What would work?" I asked, already planning the flight to Maine and Lupe giving us the exact location.

There was a pause in during which Kem was trying to get to put something on. "Nothing. We'll probably be home in around"– she sighed –"I dunno, two days maybe? I need to find my bag…." She trailed off, shuffling some things around.

"Hey. Max? Yeah, we juts need to find a way outta here. Oh yeah! I got a new skill!" Iggy had apparently gotten hold of the phone. It was so nice to know they weren't in any immediate danger other than being at the School.

"Really? What is it?" I asked him, wondering if he had suddenly gotten the power to see through walls.

"I can see!" he exclaimed.

I just stared at the phone for a second, processing this.

Nudge was the one to fully acknowledge this. "Wow Iggy! What was the first thing you saw!?"

"He can't see, he can see what someone else sees when he touches them," Kem said, sounding faraway. She was somewhere else in the room.

"It's clearest with you, though," Iggy said, sounding muffled. He probably put his hand on the receiver.

"Don't get all mushy on us Ig. We still need you guys home. Here," I said, wondering why they even left in the first place.

"About that," Iggy started slowly, carefully, but the phone seemed to have been ripped away from him and closed. The dial tone started beeping annoyingly after a few seconds.

"Well," Fang said, "let's go."

**80**

**Kem**

I grabbed the phone from Iggy and snapped it shut, tossing it onto the comatose form of the whitecoat.

"What?" Iggy hissed at me.

"Whitecoats are coming," Skye said innocently.

"Oh. Well, crap; guess we're screwed," Iggy said with a straight face on.

"No, we're not screwed. Hold my hand," I told Iggy and Skye holding out my hands for them to grab.

Skye took my left one and Iggy, my right. "Turn to face the wall," I told them, leading us to the corner of the room. **(In case you weren't paying attention, they all have the suits on.)**

They both obeyed and I forced myself to go the same color as the wall, taking them along for the ride. The drop in my energy was so great I staggered for a second before Iggy moved his hand under my arm to hold me up.

The door to the room opened and I thought back to when Angel, Nudge, and I were spying on Max and Fang about six months ago.

Ahh, how the times change.

I didn't look, but I heard shuffling, running, shouting, alarms going off, people calling other people; apparently the Director was supposed to be coming over for a visit. **(I got so mad when Anne turned out to be the Director of the School. Makes me hate my name a little more.)**

The big, bad person who runs my entire life? I can do with meeting him.

After about thirty minutes of standing unnaturally still and running and/or screaming whitecoats, they all left the room, the alarms sounding.

Skye was the first one to stir. "We can go now. There are none on this floor."

"Good thing we have you," I told her, bending over to ruffle her dark hair.

She smiled and put her hands behind her back and looked down. She's just so cute.

"Okay, follow me," I said, grabbing hold of Skye and Iggy's hands.

Iggy walked a little closer to me than other people would have considered comfortable, but I don't really mind; I loved him and he was blind with a disorienting new power.

The halls were dark, but that was no problem to my raptor vision; makes seeing in the dark _much_ easier!

Skye had her eyes closed and I imagine she was seeing who was on what floor and which rooms had people in them. Skye had this sixth sense with people; knowing and "seeing" without actually seeing. It's very strange and I think only she understands it.

Skye pointed left, to a closet.

I walked over to it and pulled the door open, revealing a staircase. Hello.

"Go up first," Skye told me, walking to stand behind Iggy.

I nodded and started up. God, it was _steep_. It was like climbing a mountain.

"How much longer," Iggy puffed, "do I have to walk up a 90 degree angle?"

"Ask," I said, "the little fish behind you."

"Not much longer. I think," Skye said without doubt.

I mentally rolled my eyes, and squeezed Iggy's hand who squeezed back.

After a few more minutes, I opened the door into a deserted hallway. I turned and saw, guess what, attached to a wall.

A map, a friggin' _map_!

"A map?" Iggy snorted.

"Let's find an exit," I said, holding up me free hand.

"Uh… Kemmy…?"

"So, let's see…" I said to myself as I scanned the map.

"Kemmy…?"

I looked harder half expecting to find a "You Are Here" arrow.

"KEMMY!" Skye yelled in my ear.

"What?" I hissed. All hope of being inconspicuous is now dead.

"Whitecoats are coming," Skye said a second before three whitecoats came pounding down the hallway.

Shiz.

Aww, I could take them with one hand tied behind my back.

The came down the hallway and stopped when they saw us, knowing we were experiments when they saw Skye. They pulled out these walkie-talkie things and started yapping into them.

I didn't wait for them to finish; Iggy, Skye, and I were already taking off down the hallway.

We made it to a set of double doors and I pulled then open, knowing we were free. And oh, was I right.

**Do you peeps want the next chapter to be in Skye's POV or Iggy's? The faster you tell me, that faster I post it.**

**Peace, love, happiness, Skye or Iggy?, review,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	25. Chapters 81 to 85

**81**

**Iggy**

There's a difference between being "home-free" and "free."

It's just that, not many people know the fine line to be crossed when you are "home-free" to being just plain old "free."

The difference is, "home-free" isn't necessarily free yet. You're not there, just so close you can definitely taste it.

Kem was still holding my hand, so I could "see" in the metaphorical sense.

"C'mon, just a little longer," Kem kept urging us as we ran out the doors and into the field where seven months ago, Kem and Lupe escaped their School.

It's very ironic that we end up in the same fenced-in area when we're escaping, only natural for us.

Skye took off into the sky (see, I made a pun!) first and was followed by Kem who was followed by me, brining up the rear. Kem flew up under Skye, who was more than a little wobbly, and told her to let her carry her for a while.

I wasn't touching Kem anymore; I didn't need to. I could "see" in my way perfectly fine for now.

The dark cloud shrouding my senses was finally starting to lift a bit, and I began to think of all the jabs I could get into Lupe when we got home. I allowed myself a small snicker.

That's when my increasingly yellow bubble popped due to three things.

The very loud explosion, usually given off by a gun.

The bullet given off by the unusually loud explosion popping my happy bubble.

The bullet punching a hole in my wing.

I started spiraling towards the earth, a hole in my wing, making me very un-aerodynamic, and 100% sure Kem was following me down, too because of the cry she gave out and because of the words she said to Skye before throwing her, _Fly to the south, and you should meet with Lupe._

Oh, shit, I'm so freaking screwed.

**82**

**Kem**

"THIS IS ASSUALT AND BATTERY!! THIS IS CHILD ABUSE! YOU SICK, TWISTED, SPAWNS OF SATAN!! WHAT DARK, DESOLATE HOLE DID YOU CRAWL OUT OF?! THE NINTH CIRCLE OF HELL?!" I was shouting and banging on the bars of my crate, trying to make as much noise as possible.

I'd gotten shot in the thigh, and Iggy'd gotten suckered in the wing, and our little healer had gotten away. I was glad she did, but we were pretty much screwed for about four days without her. Super regenerative powers or not, this was a bullet in my hopes. No pun intended.

"Kem," Iggy said, rubbing his temples and looking so beaten, it brought tears to my eyes, "can you please stop it. You're giving me a headache." He continued rubbing his temples with his eyes closed.

"Sorry, but the shit we were previously in, just got a helluva lot deeper," I said, sighing and curling my legs into my chest, resting my chin on my knees.

He stopped rubbing his head and gave me a strange face.

I raised an eyebrow, momentarily forgetting that he was blind. "What?"

He shook his head in genuine surprise. "I just never thought I'd see that day that you actually curse."

I thought back to what I'd said, wondering if it slipped out. "Wow, congratulations, you've officially corrupted me. You must be so proud," I said sarcastically, mentally slapping myself in the forehead from our predicament. I still had my suit; no one had wanted to de-suit me, conscious or otherwise.

Iggy, on the other wing, had been stripped of his color-changing super-suit and was back in his previous clothes. Sucks for him.

"I am. I would muss-up your hair if our cages weren't around three feet apart," Iggy said, shifting his position so he was hunched over and sitting on his legs.

"How would you know how far apart they are?" I asked, knowing fully well he was trying to distract me from our situation.

"My blind intuition. Magical, isn't it?" he said sarcastically.

I laughed once and rolled my eyes, thinking about when the flock was going to get here, knowing that they definitely would come and that Skye was going to run into them on the way.

**83**

**Max**

Well, this certainly does suck in more ways than one.

For one, we have only an inkling where in Maine we're going, and we're being led there by a hybrid made with three different species. We don't know if Iggy and Kem are still alive, since we were cut off so suddenly by the phone they were talking on snapping shut. We haven't fought anything in about six months, need more of a tolerance for pain, and we have Total with us.

Lord, help me and my recurring migraines.

"Shouldn't we stop soon? I'm hungry," Nudge asked, coming to fly beside me.

I mentally smacked my forehead and gave into the Bambi-eyes. "Sure. We need to be rested if we're storming the School."

We flew down into a clearing and pulled out some of the canned items we brought with us, passing them around.

We scarfed **(no idea how to spell it)** food down for about twenty minutes before taking back of into the air again. I estimated we'd been flying for about… a good and solid four hours.

We flew for another hour before Total started complaining about his wings getting tired. No one would carry him, so Lupe got stuck with him. Sigh.

W were nearing the five-hour mark when Lupe said, "Guys, I hear something. It's flapping, but not with feathers, kinda like leather."

"A bat?" Nudge offered. A pretty big bat for Lupe to be able to hear it this far away. Besides, it's day-time.

Lupe shook his head and tilted his head to the side slightly. "No… it's too big for that. And awkward," he said a few seconds before a wobbly blew dot was visible on the distant horizon. And saying it was a dot meant it was pretty far away; even our raptor vision couldn't give us features.

Angel flew in next to me. "Max, can we fly a little closer to the blue thing? I wanna see what it's thinking," Angel said to me, blinking innocently.

I wanted to see what it was thinking too, or what it really was too. But my self-preservation instinct stopped me from actually allowing Angel to fly ahead of the group and towards the possible threat that had to have absolutely no idea how to fly judging by the wobbling in _mid-air_.

But _of course_ no one decides to listen to me and starts to dart ahead, leaving to bring it up behind. Whatever happened to respecting your elders? Don't these kids listen to me anymore?

The blue dot was coming forward quickly and soon became more distinguishable from the blue, flying dot we perceived it to be at first. It grew arms, legs, a head, and a pair of leathery wings. Could this be Skye…? If it is, where's Kem and Iggy? How did only this little girl get away if Kem and Iggy don't seem to be with her?

"Angel!" I yelled. "Can you get a read on it?!"

Angel turned her head to look at me and nodded, her eyes confused. "I can and it thinks differently from us. I mean it sees things differently. And it's a girl," Angel replied.

Lupe started to beat his enormous wings faster and harder, speeding up. He flew ahead of the flock, gaining on the little girl who may or may not be the Skye that Kem told me about.

"Lupe!" I shouted, pouring on the speed. I gained on him fast and soon overtook him.

"Wait, Max! I know her!" he yelled, sounding more cheerful than he has all day. He tossed me Total, who yelped in surprise and unfurled his wings, beating them fast.

Was he sure this was Skye? I looked more closely, peering with all my might, wondering if Lupe's eyesight was better than mine. But his other senses were more developed to help with the identification of things I would other wise miss completely. Okay, I'm starting to give myself an inferiority complex.

The details were unmistakable now; she really did look like a fish. She had large scaly wings and had scales framing her face. Her eyes where a deep blue and her hair was black. She was wearing normal clothes and her skin was pale, but the scales were blue, like a fish's.

She was now about two hundred feet away and gaining faster, though more of the speed came from our part rather than hers.

"Hey Max! She has scales!" Nudge exclaimed, flying faster.

"I know," I told her and I signaled for everyone to fly faster; she was starting to get into the dangerously-shaky department.

When she was about ten feet away we stopped in mid-air while Lupe continued to shoot forward and crashed into her. She would've fallen if Lupe hadn't caught her and started to land while hold her.

We started to follow them down and when we hit the ground, Nudge could barley keep her mouth from flying off.

"Wow, Lupe do you know her? Where's she from? Is she from your School or somewhere else? Is she covered in scales? Wow, they're blue! She's really cute; how old is she? Does she have bird DNA, or something else? Does she know where Kem and Iggy are? Are those gills!? Wow, I've never seen gills like that on someone. Max, Fang, and Angel have gills, but not like th-mmmmphfft," Nudge said all in one breath and probably would've continued if not for Gazzy's quick thinking and his hand.

"Nudge, before my ears bleed, please," he said, but was staring at Skye curiously.

Skye had her eyes closed, but snapped her head around when I moved over and inspected her over.

**84**

**Skyler**

I was the only one who got away, and Kemmy and Iggy got shot, so they have to stay a little longer.

I wasn't that good at flying, so it was very hard for me to get away from the School and go where Kemmy told me I'd meet with Lupe. I just hope I can not disappoint her and make it there.

I was flying for an hour or two before I started to get tired. **(She's getting tired because she's never really flown before and her muscles aren't that developed from it.)** I wondered how to land and just decided to just keep going to see if I made it there before I had to.

I was flying slower and for another hour before I saw a small group of different colored specks in the distance, so I decided to fly a little faster and shut my eyes.

The world around me entered the black and blue space it really is when I'm not looking for it. The specks gained shape and I could see them up close.

One was definitely Lupe and the other five I didn't recognize. Lupe was holding a dog who could talk and had wings; there was a girl named Max who was really stressed; there was a girl named Nudge who liked to talk and had a sweet heart; a boy named Fang who was the silent type; a girl who looked to be around my age named Angel who could read minds; a boy named the Gasman who was worried but still had a joking heart.

I guess they were friends of Lupe, Kemmy, and Iggy.

I opened my eyes and saw they were really close and coming towards me fast. It was definitely Lupe, who was flying towards me and was going to crash into me.

Everyone else stopped flying and Lupe smashed into me and I would've fell, but he caught me and started to land.

On the ground I could see everyone's features, and not just a blue lit-up shape of them.

The one named Max was tall and had brown hair and eyes with a pretty, leaderly, and kind-ish face. The girl named Nudge had very dark skin with flyaway hair, brown eyes, and a curious face. The boy named the Gasman had spiky blonde hair and big blue eyes and looked like the little girl named Angel who looked innocent, but had a dark side. The boy everyone called Fang was tall and dark in all senses of the word, but he had a deeper side. The dog, who was named Total, cared about everyone here, and had a lot of heart.

The girl named Nudge came down to the ground asking a lot of questions.

"Wow, Lupe do you know her? Where's she from? Is she from your School or somewhere else? Is she covered in scales? Wow, they're blue!" Her talking was starting to make it difficult to pay attention to seeing and listening so I closed my eyes. "She's really cute; how old is she? Does she have bird DNA, or something else? Does she know where Kem and Iggy are? Are those gills!? Wow, I've never seen gills like that on someone. Max, Fang, and Angel have gills, but not like th-mmmmphfft," Nudge said really fast and had a hand clamped over her hand before she could finish talking.

"Nudge, before my ears bleed, please," the boy named the Gasman said with a curious voice.

I knew it when Max walked over and started to look at me so I opened my eyes and looked at her.

"Who are you?" she asked, not curious, but clarifying something for herself. **(Skye can't read minds, but she can just tell some things about people. Like when she looked at Iggy and knew he was blind without anything giving her a hint. Iggy's eyes aren't clouded as some people think they are because he wasn't born blind.)**

"You should know that already," I told her and Lupe smiled down at me.

"Skyler?" Max said, looking at Lupe.

"Yeah, that's her," Lupe told Max.

"So you can breath under water too?" Angel asked, coming up next to Lupe and looking up at me.

I nodded and tried to jump out of Lupe's arms so I could go see everyone else and talk to them. Probably realizing what I wanted, he let me go and I fell on my butt as I tried to get down.

Angel smiled and laughed at me a little. I tilted my head to the side and looked at her with confusion. "Hey, you can read minds."

She narrowed her eyes and said, "Yeah, and you… can see a person's soul?"

I stood up, brushed myself off, and looked her in the eyes. "I wouldn't call it that, but I guess so."

Max sighed and put he head in her right hand. "Creepy child showdown."

"More like a skill examination. We have to get going," Lupe told her, getting ready to take of into the air.

"He's right," Fang said, nodding once and jumped into the air. Everyone else was soon in the air too, and Lupe was holding me.

We were going to get Kemmy and Iggy.

**85**

**Kem**

"So how's your wing?" I asked Iggy while we were waiting for the whitecoats to set up the design for the maze they were having us go through.

"Hurts like hell. How's your leg?" he replied, shrugging. He was used to pain.

"They gave me some "designated painkillers" so I could run, but they could still shock me if I don't go fast enough," I replied as a whitecoat came in and led us to the door to the room.

"Hmm, I could use one of those," he commented as we were pushed into the room and told to "go."

We started running and hit a dead end, got a shock and turned around.

"This," Iggy pointed out as we ran, "sucks."

We hit another dead end and got a more powerful shock.

"They made sure to bind our wings so we couldn't just fly over the walls," I observed.

"No shit Sherlock," Iggy muttered.

We stopped for a second to listen for echoes, and we got shocked.

My eye twitched in annoyance and my eyes watered in pain as I ran towards where I heard an echo come from, certainly indicating the door at the end.

I ran harder, pumping my legs so I could get to the end and rest for a few seconds. I heard panting next to me and saw that Iggy's face was pail when they should be flushed from running so fast for so long. He was hurting bad.

We finally made it to the end of the maze and collapsed in a panting heap onto the floor while the whitecoats around us fluttered and fussed with the maze.

_God, I hate it here…_ I thought to myself.

**Okay, I know it seems like I've died and forgotten about my story and all that, but be glad I'm not at a hospital right now with some sort of weird bleach-related disease. My mom went a little crazy with the kitchen walls, so my eyes have been burning all day. Sorry for all the POVs being obscenely short, but I've been going a little crazy with anime and slept till two today, but with my reasons,**

**So peace, love, happiness, cookies, reviews would be nice (I posted the first hunk of my other story, so check it out if you wan to, so be sure to check it out,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	26. Chapters 86 to 89 A blind pyro

**I realize the epic fail at the end of the last A/N, but I'm going delirious.**

**86**

**Max**

"Where's Kem?" Lupe asked Skyler when we were in the air. He was carrying her 'cause going splat on the ground far below was a huge possibility with this girl. She was shaky in the air and it was obvious she not only hasn't flown before, but that she wasn't built for it.

"Kemmy and Iggy got shot in the air and Kemmy told me to go in the direction you were," Skye said. She was being supported by Lupe's arms some 4,000 feet in the air.

Lupe's jaw clenched, but I was momentarily distracted from the getting shot comment by what she'd called Kem.

"Kemmy?" I snickered, covering my mouth with my hand.

Gazzy started laughing and Lupe grinned momentarily saying, "I tried calling Kem that once. …she almost killed me."

Gazzy started laughing harder.

"Lupe," Skye said to Lupe with big, innocent eyes, "can I fly by myself?"

He looked down at her, as if surprised by her question, but nodded and let her go none the less.

She dropped like a rock for a second or two before catching some wind and flapping hard and flying up to us. She was pretty shaky, but managed to stay aireborne.

Her wings were the strangest thing I've possibly ever seen. And that's really saying something, considering all the f'd up things I've seen in my life.

They were like a bat's wings; covered in skin, but that covered in scales. They were all iridescent colors of blue and green, throwing colors in the sun. She had an **(warning: more technological terms coming up next. Get a diagram ready)** elbow, wrist, and others, but she looked more like a bat than bird.

"Hey Lupe," I called, adjusting my wings so I flew closer to him.

"Hmm?" he replied, looking like I'd startled him out of his thoughts.

"Is she… are you sure she's avian?" I asked, looking at his and my own wings and comparing to Skyler's wings.

He _hmphed_ to himself before replying. "We're pretty sure she is. We just assumed she was and never asked. Kem's always insisted that she is. Her bones are hollow and she has airsacs, and her blood has nuclei, it's just that I personally don't think so, but maybe the fish DNA had some reaction to the avian and made her wings similar to a bat's," he said, looking at Skye who was struggling but seemed determined below us.

So she could be a bat-human hybrid. That would explain the bat-like bone structure. They were two big, leathery sails.

Angel and Nudge glided closer to Skyler.

**87**

**Angel**

I flew closer to Skyler, curious about all her thoughts which were mainly pictures of blue people.

"So you're part fish, right?" I asked her and Nudge came up her right and me on her left.

She looked at me and tilted her head to the side which made her even more wobbly. "Yeah. And you can read minds, change colors like Kemmy can, control minds, send thoughts, breathe under water, like me, and can talk to fish, like me."

"Yeah, and you can heal people and can tell stuff about them from just a glance," I said, trying to match her skill.

"So you're from Kem and Lupe's School, right? Is it underground or on top?" Nudge asked Skyler.

She looked at her for a second and dipped drastically before righting herself. "Yup, and it's on top and underground. I always lived in the underground part. I never knew the sky was so blue," Skye said, looking up with a puzzled look on her face.

She was thinking things that I didn't want to hear, but had to. They were about us and what she saw when she closed her eyes.

She was thinking about her last moments at her School and whether or not Kem and Iggy were alright. I didn't sense anything suspicious about her, but she had a very complex and hard-to-read mind. It wasn't helped by the fact that she kept closing her eyes because the light hurt them and she lapsed back into the blue-glowing-people.

She was also wondering how we were going to get them out and how Kem and Iggy were going to fly away with us.

**Oh, and I was really bored and couldn't sleep so I started experimenting with LupexMax. Not that I'm going to do it, I just started sticking the names together and the products were pretty weird. Mupe; Lax; Lux (okay, that one sounds kinda cool); Mape; sorry most of them sound kinda dirty. And besides, I'm too big a fan of FAX to actually do it. Sorry for distracting you with my random rant, continue….**

**88**

**Iggy**

So my wing hurts like hell and Kem is out doing a "test."

So that means I'm here with nothing to do besides just sit here and stare at the wall for a few hours until the flock comes, and they _will_ come. Well, face the wall if you wanna get technical. I really wish I hadn't used that bomb or had a paperclip or something.

_Wait a second…_ I thought to myself, shifting in the crate so I could reach my arm out of the bars in the front.

I fumbled around the outside of the cage for a few minutes before I can into contact with the two bent paperclips that Kem left there when she picked the lock on my cage.

Picking the lock on the cage holding me inside a government-funded, top-secret, evil agency was almost surreal; it brought back so many memories.

When the lock clicked open and I pulled it off, pushing the door open, I felt the rush of victory I always get whenever I break my personal record. Ah, the simple joys of being thoroughly annoying.

I straitened up and walked over to on of the tables where they kept all the flammable doctoring stuff. You can probably infer what I did after that, seeing that I also broke my bomb-making record of an hour, and I that I had a matchbook with me.

**89**

**Kem**

They wanted to see my reaction time to blending into different backgrounds and patterns.

So far they've tried four different one's each one harder than the last, or at least _their_ opinion. They tried a brick wall, a beach with a rolling wave, a forest with different things swaying at once, and a movie. So far they couldn't see me when I changed color.

They outfitted me in one of the skin-tight color-changing suits and gave me something resembling a swim-cap for my hair. I kept my wings under the suit for the obvious reasons of it was easier to change color with just my skin because I could change each spot separately and not have to layer it on, which would get me to break a sweat.

They took notes the entire time and kept switching the screen to a different background. They switched it to a… _security camera_?

It was a room with Iggy futzing around with something that looked suspiciously like a bomb. Oh, crap, this wasn't a test because three whitecoats ran in and grabbed him, only to have the shiz beat out of them be Iggy and he ran into the hallway, carrying about three bombs, each one a small white circle the size of a baseball. He ran to a room that looked suspiciously like the outside of the room I was in and tapped on the window to the room.

I jumped and looked at the window where I heard the tapping coming from. I dropped the color-changing test and just stared at the window and the picture on the screen. They both showed a waving Iggy from different angles.

Apparently the whitecoats now realized that this was not just a simulation and that Iggy had really gotten out of his cage because they were already out of the "observation room" and trying to seize Iggy who beat the living crap outta them.

He threw a whitecoat into the window and I ran over to the window and jumped out, momentarily curling into a ball so I'd fit.

"Hey," he greeted me, as I grabbed his hand and took off down the hallway.

"Been busy?" I commented as I rushed into a closet as a flock (no, not making a pun) of whitecoats came running down the hallway, freaking out for the second or third time today.

"Yeah, I made three of them before they came in. They even have a fuse!" he said happily, showing me the three white circles that definitely hade a fuse made out of gauze.

"You're such a pyro. C'mon, we have to get going; you may not be able to fly, but we can still run. Painkillers are still effective, so _let's go_," I said, pulling the closet door open and walking down the hallway until I saw the familiar door that held the insanely steep stair behind it.

"These again?" Iggy complained.

"I could always leave you here and come get you later," I said dryly.

He just pressed his lips together and rolled his eyes. "Let's just go."

**A/N!!!!!!**

**So, my minions, what did you think of this chapter? I'm not going to say "chappie" 'cause that sounds gay, so tell me what your thoughts were!!!!**

**Pease, love, happiness, lemonade,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	27. Chapters 90 to 91

**90**

**Max**

"WOOO!!" the Gasman yelled as the School can into sight. He looked like he was going to do a victory dance in mid-air.

Lupe had to carry Skye again; he was kinda protective of her.

Okay, now we need a plan. And I mean a good, kick-ass plan. A plan to blow all of my other stupid plans out of the water; a plan to make all other plans whimper at the sight of it. A plan to make all other plans wet themselves when mentioned!

Okay, I'm starting to blow smoke, so I'll just shut-up now.

"So guys, I was thinking that we should go around to the field and bust through the windows, Angel can tell us where they are and where it's safe to go, and then we could"- we landed in the field and no one noticed yet- "have Skye fix Iggy so we could get away."

Fang nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

Lupe put Skye down and she closed her eyes and rubbed her head. I turned away, wondering if my life could get any stranger.

You know the phrase "I spoke too soon"? Yeah, it turns out I did that.

I heard a loud explosion and half the wall face us exploded out of the building.

"Duck and cover!" I heard Gazzy yell in a fake-commander's voice.

So I hit the dirt as another explosion came followed by Kem saying, "Hit the dirt?"

I looked up and jumped up and looked at her. She and Iggy were holding hands and out of the corner of my eye I saw Lupe looking at that with a look of contempt.

"IGGY!! KEM!!" I shouted, throwing my arms around the both of them, practically smothering them.

"Max, Erasers, whitecoats, WATCH IT!!" Kem yelled as another explosion went off.

I heard a low growl coming from somewhere behind me and turned, thinking _Eraser!_ But it was Lupe, eyeing the cloud of smoke, dust and rubble with a look of hate. He had his lips pulled back from his new fangs, baring them at whatever was behind that puff of smoke.

"What?" I whispered to Angel, who'd gone white-as-a-sheet.

"They have _guns,_ Max," she whispered, her eyes wide.

"Can you control their minds?" I ask anxiously, adrenaline already dumping into my blood.

She shook her head. "There's too many of them."

I've been in stickier situations, I can handle this.

….

Oh, crap, I'm so screwed.

**91**

**Lupe**

The smoke had finally cleared enough o show lines of whitecoats lined up, pointing machineguns at us. I was still growing at them.

We were all staring at them and I could see Max trying to come up with a plan.

Rage started coursing through my body as I thought of the circumstances and the fact that us coming here to rescue Kem and Iggy had been pointless now that we were held at gunpoint. I don't care though; I won't go back into the School, even if means I'll die.

I saw Skye squeeze her eyes shut and my heart squeezed at the thought of losing her and Kem at the same time, especially after thinking Skye was dead for seven months.

I turned my head slightly and saw Kem narrow her eyes, but keep her hand in Iggy's. I'll think about that later; if later ever comes.

I glanced around briefly without moving my head and saw my flock, my… family. It's true; I've started to care about these people as my family and not just Kem.

I saw Fang who, somehow, became my best friend. Iggy who, even though he can annoy the shit out of me, I care about like a brother. The Gasman, who was like a little brother and I felt obligated to take care of. Nudge, who talked non-stop, but I had to admit, I would get angry if anything happened to her. Angel, who may seem like a creepy little child, reminded me so much of Skye, I couldn't help but watch over her from the beginning.

And Max. About Max…. She was a good leader, who was best friends with Kem, and was a relief to have around. She was with Fang and he'd do anything with her, follow her to the ends of the earth.

A man with a megaphone stepped forward and spoke into it, his voce coming out tinny. "We will not hurt you if you come peacefully and cooperate," he said through the megaphone.

It sent shivers down my spine and I mentally shouted, _ANGEL!!_

Angel jumped, but didn't turn to look at me. _What!?_

_He's lying. Try and see what he's thinking. Tell Max if you can hear anything._

_Okay. Thanks Lupe,_ Angel said, her stance shifting slightly.

I looked back at the man, a cold, piercing stare I'd mastered so well. Skye was standing practically on my toes and my wings wanted to unfurl and let me fly away so badly, it took all my self-control to stop them from it.

_They won't go peacefully, the Director knows that. She just doesn't want to loose the lupine-avian-human hybrid or the chamaeleo-avian-human hybrid. They're both failed experiments in my eyes. They had too strong a will and their skills only helped them in harassing us whenever we tried to do something. If it was up to me, they'd be gunned down before they can do anymore damage…_ the whitecoat was thinking. Angel'd projected his thoughts to all of us and we were starting to get mad, and in my peripheral vision, I saw Kem's look that said, _I have and idea_.

She was wearing a skin-tight white suit and a… swim cap. I mentally shook my head and wondered about her sanity and if it reached its limit.

She grinned evilly before letting go of Iggy's hand and disappearing from sight all together. Gee, I wonder what she's planning.

**A/N!!!!!**

**Yello, my peeps. The minions comment threw you off, huh? Well that's jusat the way my mind works! So it's seemed like I was dead to my other story, but I really wanna finish this one before I pay a little more attention to my other ones. My attention span in massed onto this and passing school, so,**

**Peace, love, happiness, joy, strawberries, Reviews [I need to know how my story's doing!!!],**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	28. Chapters 92 to 93 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

**Warning, you will be saddened by this chapter.**

**92**

**Kem**

The surprised and annoyed look on all the whitecoats' faces was priceless. I had to hold my sides to stop myself from busting out laughing.

I danced lightly over to Max's side and whispered in her ear, "Max, whatever happens, don't let anyone move. Tell this to Angel and have her tell everyone else."

She nodded almost imperceptibly and her gaze became impeccably steely as she glared at the whitecoats with the guns.

I walked slowly around the clearing, being careful and making sure that I didn't make any noise and not to step on any of the patches of grass. Being invisible was one thing; being quiet was another altogether.

I slid in behind one whitecoat and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he sensed me behind him. His head shot around behind him and he looked wildly around, trying to locate me in vain. Even mutant eyes couldn't me when I was in "really determined camouflage mode."

Anyway, even though I was going to die a little inside when this happened, it had to be done if the flock and I were going to get out here mostly hole-free.

I shot my arm out and grabbed the whitecoat by the throat. His eyes bugged as I twisted his head to the side, snapping his neck, dispatching him quickly.

I wrenched the machine gun from his hands and spun around in a movement so quick, you'd swear I was always in that position. I pulled down the safety switch and pulled the trigger the first notch so it was ready to shoot at a hair's breath.

I fought against the wave of nausea that sickened me as tears rolled uncontrollably down my face; this is what killing did to me. My gag reflex kicked in, threatening to spill my empty stomach's bile everywhere. I swallowed and focused on the faces that were turned towards me, fear written everywhere. They were so inept, these whitecoats; all their guns hung down limply, some of them even had their hands in the air. Ha, ha, stupid, bungling, deranged humans.

And this is coming from the mutant-bird-kid holding a machine gun. Oh, and she can change colors.

I felt Angel's voice intrude inside my head. _Hey Kem_, she said hesitantly. I couldn't tell if it was question or not.

I fought to keep my face straight as I answered her back. _Yes Angel?_

She seemed to mentally hesitate before saying, _What are you going to do? Everyone wants to know, especially the whitecoats_.

_I don't know yet, Angel. Gimme a second to think_, I thought back to her and felt her leave my mind.

Uhh… I could maybe threaten to shoot their leader if they don't let us go…? No, that would only make me into Swiss Cheese. Hmm… how about… did Lupe's fangs come in over night? I bet they did…. And the Director'd do anything to keep him alive…. I'm sensing a Lupe-hole! Okay, so I suck at puns, we've established that….

"Lupe!" I called, quite confident that he'd hear the mischievous hint in my voice.

I heard him murmur something and then light/pounding feet as he ran towards me.

He came up behind me and I saw the Whitecoat Leader's mouth thin as he saw Lupe moving about freely.

"_What?"_ he whispered in my ear.

"_Harass them,"_ I breathed back.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him grin maliciously; this was where the fun part came in his eyes.

**93**

The moment Kem said "harass them," I knew I her plan was damn good. If she even thought about having me talk to them, she would already have the outcome planned out in her head.

Unless she was being spontaneous again, then we were all royally screwed.

I grinned cruelly and walked up to who seemed to be the lead whitecoat.

I walked around him, inspecting him from head-to-toe with a critical eye. He was a short, balding man with a paunch and probably an ulcer. His hair was brown/grey and his face was set in a deep scowl.

I grinned at him, baring my canines. "Hey, why don't you just let us go and you just keep being an angry, short, fat, bald man with grey hair, hm?"

His face turned tomato red and I grinned down at him from my six-feet-and-eight-inches of height. God-intimidating **(you know, instead of God-awful, God-intimidating? Yeah, puns+me=major sucking. As in, I suck more at that than a vacuum cleaner. Hey, why do they call it a vacuum cleaner, if it doesn't clean vacuums? One of life's unsolved mysteries. Sorry, ADD moment……)**

He looked back up at me and spat, "You and your sister were failed experiments. The only reason you're still alive is due to the Director, the amazing women she is, and her want to keep you alive in hopes for creating a knew race of human ready for any eventuality. It's because of her that you're alive." He smirked at me, thinking like the dumbass he is, and thought that I was grateful to the "Director."

"Well you can give her a message," I said menacingly low through my teeth. "The flock says, "Go to hell." And I cracked his knuckles and swung my arm in a quick movement, intending to punch his lights out.

But I never got a chance to; he raised his gun too quickly and his trigger was already down the first notch.

He shot me. Right in the chest, under the heart; a fatal shot.

**A/N!!!!!!!**

**Sorry if it seemed like I was dead, and didn't update this because I lost all feeling for it, I was just preoccupied and wanted to do a little of my other two fanfics. And yes Lupe did get shot. It actually hurt me to write that.**

**Peace, love, happiness, a trained medical team and a cryogenics chamber,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


	29. Lupe's Feather

**It's times like this when I look at my story and see how it's developed past the original plot. I often reread the first page and some of the previous chapters and remember that I just made it up (or some of it at least) as I went along. It's really and truly shocking.**

**94**

**Max**

Lupe raised his fist and took a swing at the whitecoat's face, but his fist never connected.

I saw Angel notice it coming, and she lurched forward. I saw Skye's widen as she comprehended that Lupe's life was about to be over. I saw the entire flock watching not-quite-innocently a second before Lupe's life ended.

The whitecoat raised his gun and shot Lupe in the chest.

Lupe fell backwards and blood started spurting out of the hole in his chest.

And, as you can imagine, all freaking hell broke loose.

Kem shot the whitecoat who killed Lupe in the temple, hate twisting her pretty features, Fang ran forwards and threw himself into the mass of whitecoats, Gazzy ran in and started shocking people with his new power, Angel made half of the whitecoats ram themselves into the wall, Nudge started kicking, punching, biting, and all around beating down on the whitecoats, Iggy started taking on three at once, and I made straight to where Kem was keeping whitecoats away from Lupe, tears rolling down her face.

I punched two who came right for me and snapped my leg up and onto their collarbones, snapping them. I ran right towards Kem and just as I was about to reach her, something flew over my head and landed in a heap in front of Lupe/Lupe's body.

It was Skye, and she had her fingers in Lupe's chest. Kem looked behind her for a second at Lupe's body and tears started pouring down her face. A whitecoat came up behind her and I jumped on him, pulling his head to the side, snapping his spine. I didn't like killing, but I was so completely pissed off right now.

Kem fell down on her knees as she started at her brother, tears spilling off her face. I walked over to her, feeling like I was in a dream; nothing felt real.

**95**

**Kem**

_My brother… dead. My only sibling… gone, exterminated from the face of this goddamned earth_, I thought as I held Lupe's head in my lap, his bright green eyes, half-open, his hand (which used to be clutching his chest), was now under the hole that was clearly spurting blood. I pressed my palm against the hole, Lupe's pain intensifying as I did so, but I wasn't ready to let go of him yet, not now, not like this. Skye was crying, her tiny shoulders shaking.

"Kemmy," she sobbed, "it's not working. I c-c-c-an't fix-x-x 'im." She swallowed and took a few deep breaths before sobbing again.

I felt a presence behind me and Max put a hand on my shoulder. I didn't even look up at her, but I knew she was feeling grief and panic.

If I hadn't been such an idiot and ran away from my problems, we'd all be in our rooms, probably making fun of Lupe. Or maybe Iggy would have decided to tease Lupe about anything and everything. _God, it's all my fault._ But I wouldn't have Skye.

Is this some cruel, sick joke? Is life trying to bitch-slap me or flip me off? Is that the choice? Lupe or Skye, take your pick! If you don't choose one the other one dies!

I was aware that the frenzied fight around me had ceased and that Lupe was still marginally alive; I could still feel his pain, which as slowly ebbing away.

"Lupe," I croaked out as the rest of the flock gathered around us.

His eyelids fluttered in response. How long was he holding on? It had to have been at least a minute or two, though it seemed like an eternity, but not nearly long enough.

"Kem, he's going," Fang said, surprising me by talking. I still didn't look away from Lupe, but even I heard the pain in his voice without feeling it; he'd become friends with Lupe who seemed to be the last person on earth for him to that with.

I removed my hand from his chest and pressed my lips together, trying to hold back the sobs that would make me close my eyes and collapse.

"This all my fault," I choked out, and Lupe did something I would have expected someone on the brink of death _could_ do.

He opened his bloodshot eyes all the way, the bright green looking ghostly in his pale and sweaty face. He said something, no, mumbled something. "Kem, don't blame yourself. I was being my usual stupid self…. And I got myself killed."

He closed his mouth, his emotions cutting off sharply and his eyes became glassy. His hands became slacker and he stared without seeing anything; a dead man's stare.

My eyes widened and I screamed, "LUPE!!!!"

"We have to go Kem. Skye can fix Iggy and then we can get out of here," Max said, squeezing my shoulder with her hand and bending down to shut Lupe's eyes.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!!" I yelled, tears rolling down my face and into Lupe's hair. I bent over and sobbed my heart out, my forehead against his still-warm one.

I felt Max bend over and whisper into my ear, "Kem, he's gone. I know how you feel, but we have to get going before more whitecoats come."

"Let them!" I yelled, reaching under Lupe's back and pulling one of his gold secondaries out; a souvenir.

"Kem," Iggy now, "if you're not coming, we'll drag you." He was threatening me! The severely unhinged girl!

I didn't even merit that one with a retort, and a second after my silence was confirmed, ropy arms wrapped themselves around me and wrenched me away from Lupe's body; Fang, I could tell.

"LET ME GO!" I yelled, struggling against his strength. I looked back to where Lupe lay in a pool of his own blood, looking like he was sleeping except for the hazelnut-sized hole under his heart.

Skye fixed Iggy's wing; it probably didn't hit her fully yet that Lupe was gone for good. Sure, she'd felt him fade away, but she didn't realize the, for lack of a better word, hugeness of this.

They all took off, me still in Fang's death-hold. I looked back down and stopped struggling, whitecoats swarming around Lupe's body. They loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him inside to be burned; how ironic, he was just snuffed out and was going to be snuffed out literally.

Tears continued sliding down my face, popping in the air as I kept whispering his name, refusing to let the grief take hold of me. And I was dragged higher and higher, closer to where my brother possibly was. Right then I prayed so hard, I felt my heart would explode from the sheer intensity of it, that there was a heaven, and that Lupe was accepted past the Golden Gates.

I looked down at the perfect, glistening gold feather in my hand and thought to myself, _Even angels fall_.

**A/N!!!!!!**

**And this is the end of Rusty Wings. Lupe is dead, and even though it seems like an unsatisfactory ending, I'm writing another fic that continues it. Keep your eyes peeled for **_**Golden Wings**_**.**

**I'm going to the movies to see 17 Again with buddy of mine Smurf (aka: thequillofdestiny) she does South Park fanfiction and enjoys slash, but tell me, who doesn't?**

**And isn't it ironic that Kem was the one who almost died numerous times, but it ended up being Lupe ultimately died in the end?**

**Anyway, I still crave reviews for this story of mine even though this is the last chapter. So give them to me or I will be purposely slow with starting the next story.**

**Peace, love, happiness, reviews, Lupe's wings,**

**RustyW1ngs.**


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